The Osun State Authorities has denied allegations of alleged cowl up of ghost staff’ indictment throughout the state public service by Sally Tibbot Restricted, an audit agency, describing the press briefing by the corporate as a delicate blackmail to power a fraudulent employees audit report on the state.
The forensic audit agency, SALLY TIBBOT had accused the Osun State Authorities of inserting a complete of 8,452 alleged ghost staff into the state’s payroll and paying them a sum of N13,716,914,129.28 yearly.
The allegation was made by the Govt Vice Chairman and Chief Govt Officer of the agency, Sa’adat Bakrin-Ottun, who spoke by way of the corporate’s authorized counsel, Jiti Ogunye, at a press convention held on the Nigeria Union of Journalists Secretariat in Lagos on Friday.
Bakrin-Ottun stated the figures emerged from a complete forensic audit and payroll validation train performed for the Osun State Authorities, which, based on her, revealed pervasive payroll fraud throughout the state’s civil and public service system.
Responding to the allegations from the corporate, the state authorities, by way of an announcement by its Commissioner for Info and Public Enlightenment, Kola Alimi, stated the bizarre excessive numbers of alleged ghost staff by the advisor led to a re- verification train which shockingly revealed intensive inflation of the supposed variety of ghost staff and which confirmed that these the corporate claimed have been ghost staff confirmed up that they have been professional staff of the state authorities.
The State Authorities additional proposed to furnish the corporate with proof of the existence of every of those staff, if the identical is required.
“Nonetheless, the corporate didn’t at any time limit request for such proof nor ship an acceptance letter for cost based mostly on about 1,316 staff who weren’t seen,” Alimi claimed.
The federal government famous that the whole saga grew to become extra suspicious, particularly as firm’s charges was based mostly on the amount of cash she saves the State authorities on the payroll, indicating that the corporate’s declare was based mostly on greed particularly going by the advisor’s excessive handedness, open exclusion of employees throughout auditing course of and deliberate maltreatment of staff that characterised the whole audit processes.
It additional submitted that whereas it was keen to scrub up the state payroll, it can’t in good conscience take away professional state authorities staff from the payroll and can’t undergo an audit report that has the potential to additional defraud the state authorities.
Submitting that it’s inside its proper to evaluation an audit report earlier than implementation, the federal government famous that the existence of open gaps, verifiable lapses, a number of battles in the course of the audit course of and excessive variety of ghost staff compelled the establishing of a verification committee as a prelude to the implementation of the employees audit report.
“Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd had declared 8,448 staff as unseen staff whereas 6,713 retirees have been declared as ghost retirees. However the conclusion was arrived at by the corporate with out making any efforts to name every of those staff to determine the rationale for his or her absence.
Upon the receipt of the report of the train carried out by Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd, as a way to keep away from a state of affairs the place an sincere employee can be declared a ghost employee solely by cause of such employee’s absence from verification, particularly if the rationale for such absence is ill-health the Osun state Authorities carried out an in-depth evaluation of the report and the next was found:
Out of the full variety of 8,448 staff declared by Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd as unseen staff, the Osun State Authorities was capable of verify 8,015 as lively staff whereas 433 staff have been discovered to be unreachable.
Additionally, out of the full variety of 6,713 retirees declared as ghost staff by Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd as unseen staff, the Osun State Authorities was capable of verify the existence of 5,830 retirees whereas 883 couldn’t be reached.
The implication of that is that the proportion declare payable to Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd diminished drastically by advantage of the truth that the stated Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd tried to reap the place she didn’t sow by inflating the variety of ghost staff/retirees to fifteen,161 when in precise truth, the unseen staff/retirees are about 1,316,” he stated.
In response to the letter of demand dated twenty fifth June, 2025 written by Jiti Ogunye Esq., the counsel to Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd, the Osun State Authorities, by way of her counsel, Ire Egert-Olusesi (Mrs.) of the agency of Musibau Adetunbi SAN & Co., responded by way of a letter dated eighth July, 2025 explaining in particulars, the have to be completely certain of the precise quantity that was saved by Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd by the verification train, contemplating the truth that cost to the stated Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd relies on the proportion of the quantity saved.
Alimi stated, “The Osun State Authorities by the stated letter, additional proposed that cost be made on the quantity of the particular ghost staff ascertained, i.e. about 1,316 whereas extra verification is carried out. Copies of the stated letters dated twenty fifth June, 2025 and eighth July, 2025 are herein hooked up as Annexures 1 and a couple of.
On twenty third July, 2025, the counsel to Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd wrote one other letter insisting that cost ought to be made on 15,161 as towards the about 1,316 staff, claiming that the settlement between the corporate and Osun State Authorities didn’t envisage a re-verification train by the federal government.
The stated Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd didn’t avert her thoughts to the truth that cost, by the settlement between the events, is to be made on the precise quantity saved by the state by the verification train. The Osun State Authorities, by a letter dated fifth August, 2025 responded and drew the eye of the corporate to the truth that the settlement between the events solely envisaged cost to the corporate based mostly on the precise financial savings.”
The State Authorities, by way of her counsel, additional referred the corporate to the related Clause of the Settlement executed between each events.
“It ought to be emphasised that the state authorities stands by the suggestions of its re- verification committee which acknowledged as follows:
That the full emolument (positive factors) to the (Authorities from the unseen personnel is Twenty-seven Million, Seventy•seven Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty-Seven Naira, Sixty Kobo (N27,077,847.60) solely versus One Billion, Three Hundred and Fifteen Million, Three Hundred and Seventeen Thousand, Six Hundred and Sixty-four Naira, Three Kobo
(NI318,3 17,664.03) given by the Consulting finn.
That the primary Committee was of the conviction that sufficient time and motion have been taken on the re-verification train, based mostly on this, it recommends as follows:
That the salaries and pensions in addition to palliatives of the unseen employees (lively and retirees) be completely stopped with impact from July, 2025;
That the Guide be paid the sum of Forty-eight Million, Seven Hundred and Forty Thousand, One Hundred and Twenty-five Naira, Sixty-eight Kobo (N48,740,125.68) representing 159% of the annual gross salaries and allowances the re-verification enabled the Authorities to avoid wasting in a single yr in step with Part 3(3.1) of the MoU between the State Authorities and the Consulting agency on the train,” the assertion famous.
