By Ayo Kehinde
The Osun State Government has dismissed claims of a ₦13 billion payroll scam involving Sally Tibbot Limited, describing the allegations as “false and APC-sponsored”.
The State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Kolapo Alimi, on Friday said verification of the controversial audit report revealed that more than two-thirds of those declared as ghost workers were bona fide staff with full identification and proper documentation.
Alimi emphasised that governor Ademola Adeleke, who initiated the audit, welcomes investigations by anti-corruption agencies.
“If there is fraud, it is not that of Governor Adeleke but that of the former Governor, Gboyega Oyetola, as the audited payroll was inherited from the Oyetola administration”, he said.
A review committee comprising the consultant and labour union officials reportedly found that out of the 8,448 workers declared “unseen”, 8,015 were confirmed active, while only 433 were unreachable. Similarly, out of the 6,713 retirees labelled as ghost pensioners, 5,830 were confirmed active, and 883 could not be reached.
The commissioner explained that the governor hired the consultant to probe reports of padded payroll from the previous administration and insisted on full implementation of the audit report before gaps were discovered. He further stated that the governor would be pleased if the EFCC and ICPC assisted in identifying genuine ghost workers.
Regarding the governor’s brother, Dr Deji Adeleke, Alimi said his involvement was limited to ensuring no bona fide civil servants were wrongly declared ghost workers.
“The governor’s brother was never a party to the entire process except to safeguard staff interests”, he said.
Alimi alleged that Sally Tibbot inflated the number of ghost workers to 15,000 to claim about ₦2 billion, while the actual number of unreached staff was less than 1,000, reducing the consultant’s payment to roughly ₦47 million. Invitations for the firm to verify its findings were largely ignored.
The statement also revealed that the Vice-Chancellor of the Osun State University, Prof. Adeboye, along with staff and lecturers across state tertiary institutions, were wrongly declared ghost workers and are now considering legal action against the consultant.
According to Alimi, the consultant’s report served as a “willing tool for the APC”, and the alleged ₦13 billion scam claims had failed.
