PRESS STATEMENT. (11TH JANUARY, 2026).
*Osun APC Condemns N13bn Pay Roll Fraud Rocking Adeleke’s Govt, Calls For Anti-corruption Agencies’ Investigation
The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the ongoing pay roll fraud rocking the embattled administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke where the audit of the state civil service has uncovered over N13 billion paid to 8,452 workers.
It was disclosed at a press conference on Friday by, Jiti Ogunye, the legal counsel of the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of SALLY TIBBOT Consulting Limited, Sa’daat A. Bakrin-Ottu, that a forensic audit report conducted by the company has uncovered 8,452 ghost workers in the Osun State civil service with over N13 billion paid annually to non-existent employees.
It was learnt through the press conference that the executive brief and full audit report presented to Governor Adeleke, the state payment roll for January 2023, covering mainstream workers and pensioners, stood at N4.48 billion which was the figure based on the payments made my CHAMS for 37,456 staff and 17,918 pensioners.
Ogunye also disclosed that following a comprehensive staff audit, payroll reengineering and validation exercise by the firm, the genuine payment roll was revised downward to N3.34 billion while the audit confirmed an actual workforce of 29,004 staff and 17,918 pensioners, revealing that 8,452 non-existent but paid workers had been added to the payroll.
It was also gathered that the exercise conducted from June 2022 till April 2023, resulted in monthly savings of N1,14 billion for the Osun State Government, translating to an annual savings of N13.7 billion.
Ogunye stated that since the submission of the report to the governor on the 27th June, 2024, and upon the public presentation of the report(including findings and recommendations) at the public presentation ceremony in Osogbo on the 10th of July, 2024, SALLY TIBBOT, has taken many steps to demand for the implementation of the audit report and for payment for the job undertaken and concluded under the Contract Agreement but to no avail.
It was also learnt that rather than implementing the recommendations of the consulting firm, the state government conducted an in-depth analysis of the SALLY TIBBOT report via a reverification exercise.
Ogunye also disclosed how the lives of the management of the consulting firm were being threatened by some individuals after the demands for the implementation of the recommendations in the audit report were made following the submission of the audit report.
The unsavoury development concerning the pay roll fraud has vindicated the opposition APC that has been fiercely criticizing Mr. Adeleke of not capable of effectively governing a complex state like Osun State based on his verifiable poor performance in the office for the past three years.
It is now crystal clear that the governor through his inept approach to governance has succeeded in running the state aground despite the fact that there has been a substantial improvement in the federal government monthly allocations accruing to the state.
The allegation of the consulting firm that some elements were threatening the lives of its management is a serious, criminal and grievous allegation which should be investigated by the police while the issue of the N13 billion pay roll fraud should instantly be addressed by the nation’s statutory anti-corruption agencies in the interest of probity and accountability in public offices.
The governor should justify the reason why he decided not to make the recommendations of the consulting firm public since the submission of same to him on 27th June, 2024.
With this N13 billion pay roll fraud rocking the administration of Governor Adeleke, it is not an overstatement to observe and conclude his over three- year-old administration is not only directionless, wasteful and non-focused, it is a monumental failure.
We, as a party, congratulate the development-loving people of the state as the strength of our governorship candidate, Oyebamiji, lies in technocratic competence, financial engineering, fiscal discipline and calm leadership that are required to correct the visible anomalies of the incumbent governor who is on his way out of the Bola Ige House via the forthcoming 8th August, 2026 governorship election.
e-SIGNED:
*Mogaji KOLA OLABISI, Osun State APC Director of Media and Information.*
