The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has called on anti-corruption agencies to investigate a purported N13 billion payroll fraud during Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration.
In a statement signed by Kola Olabisi, the party’s Director of Media and Information, the APC claimed a forensic audit of the state civil service uncovered payments to thousands of non-existent employees.
At a press conference on Friday, January 9, 2025, Jiti Ogunye, legal counsel to the Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of SALLY TIBBOT Consulting Limited, Sa’adaat A. Bakrin-Ottu, said the firm identified 8,452 alleged ghost workers on the state payroll.
Ogunye added that more than N13 billion was allegedly paid annually to these non-existent workers, describing the findings as results of a forensic review commissioned by the state government.
He stated, “The executive brief submitted to Governor Adeleke showed that the January 2023 payroll for mainstream workers and pensioners amounted to N4.48 billion, covering 37,456 employees and 17,918 pensioners.”
Following a comprehensive staff audit, payroll reengineering, and validation exercise, Ogunye said the genuine payroll was revised to N3.34 billion monthly, with an actual workforce of 29,004 staff and 17,918 pensioners, revealing an excess of 8,452 names.
The audit, conducted between June 2022 and April 2023, reportedly led to monthly savings of N1.14 billion, totaling approximately N13.7 billion annually for the state. The firm submitted its full report to the governor on June 27, 2024, and publicly presented the findings in Osogbo on July 10, 2024.
Ogunye claimed the firm has not received payment for its work and alleged that members of its management received threats after insisting on the implementation of the audit recommendations.
In response, Osun APC urged the Nigeria Police and statutory anti-corruption agencies to investigate the alleged threats and examine the claims of the N13 billion payroll payments. The party also called on the state government to clarify the status of the audit recommendations.
Governor Adeleke, through his spokesperson Olawale Rasheed, welcomed the call for a review of the staff audit report, stating that both the EFCC and ICPC were free to examine the report and its processes. He emphasized that any review would focus on payroll and personnel records inherited from the administration of former governor Gboyega Oyetola.
Meanwhile, the Osun State Government, through Commissioner for Information Kolapo Alimi, dismissed the ghost worker allegations. The government described SALLY TIBBOT Consulting’s press briefing as an attempt to pressure the administration into accepting a disputed audit report. Alimi noted that the unusually high number of alleged ghost workers prompted a re-verification exercise, which revealed inflated figures.
