The Federal Government has introduced stricter verification requirements for newly recruited workers seeking enrolment on its payroll, following a rise in personnel expenditure to N1.96tn in the first quarter of 2026.

The new directive, which takes immediate effect, requires all newly recruited employees to be captured on the nominal roll of their respective Ministries, Departments and Agencies before they can be enrolled on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System.

The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation announced the measures on Monday in a statement signed by its Director of Press and Public Relations, Bawa Mokwa.

According to the office, no newly recruited employee will be admitted into the payroll without meeting the prescribed validation and eligibility requirements.

The tighter controls come amid rising personnel costs, which increased by N133.94bn, or 7.35 per cent, from N1.82tn recorded in the first quarter of 2025, according to an analysis of the Federal Government’s budget implementation reports by The PUNCH.

Figures from the 2026 First Quarter Budget Implementation Report showed that the Federal Government spent N1.96tn on personnel costs between January and March, compared with N1.69tn on capital expenditure.

The difference of approximately N267bn means personnel spending exceeded capital expenditure by about 15.77 per cent during the period.

Personnel costs accounted for 20.05 per cent of the Federal Government’s total expenditure of N9.76tn, while capital spending represented 17.32 per cent.

A breakdown of the figures showed that personnel expenditure by Ministries, Departments and Agencies rose from N1.57tn in the first quarter of 2025 to N1.70tn in the corresponding period of 2026.

This represented an increase of N133.94bn, or 8.54 per cent. Meanwhile, personnel expenditure by Government-Owned Enterprises remained unchanged at N254.35bn, indicating that the reported increase in the wage bill came entirely from MDAs.

On a monthly basis, the Federal Government spent an average of N652.37bn on personnel costs during the first quarter of 2026, compared with N607.73bn in the same period of the previous year.

Despite the increase, actual personnel expenditure by MDAs remained below the budgeted quarterly allocation.

The Budget Office disclosed that N8.35tn was appropriated for MDA personnel costs in the 2026 budget, compared with N7.60tn in 2025, representing an increase of approximately N758.51bn, or 9.99 per cent.

The 2026 allocation translated to a quarterly spending projection of N2.09tn. However, actual releases stood at N1.70tn in the first quarter, leaving a shortfall of N385.78bn, or 18.47 per cent, against the projected amount.

The development highlights the growing pressure of personnel obligations on federal spending, even as the government moves to strengthen payroll controls and ensure that only eligible employees are enrolled.