Nigeria uncovers 11,000 more "ghost workers" on gov't payroll: minister

Authorities in Nigeria have uncovered some 11,000 more "ghost workers" on the payroll of the national government, Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun said Thursday.

The latest finding was made more than a week after the government said it had cut off about 23,846 ghost workers on its payroll, a fraud which had been plaguing the economy for years.

The new fraud was uncovered following an anti-corruption audit on civil servants in the West African country, using the Bank Verification Number platform, the minister told reporters in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

"Again, we are using computer techniques to identify those who we need to investigate," she said.

According to Adeosun, the move, which is part of President Muhammadu Buhari's anti-corruption campaign, has significantly reduced public wages.

The initial discovery of 23,846 ghost workers on the government's payroll had reduced the wages by at least 11.5 million U.S. dollars, she said.

More than 40 percent of total government expenditures go into public wages in Nigeria.

The Nigerian government has said it will continue with the audit till the end of this year, to further ascertain the total number of civil servants entitled to monthly salaries.

Adeosun said Nigeria would prosecute those found culpable in the fraud in due time.

"The ongoing exercise is part of the cost-saving and anti-corruption agenda of the present administration and would be key to funding the deficit in the 2016 budget," she added. Endit