A forensic audit firm, SALLY TIBBOT Consulting Limited, has accused the Osun State Government of fraudulently adding 8,452 ghost workers to its payroll, allegedly costing the state ₦13.72 billion annually.
The firm’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sa’adat Bakrin-Ottun, made the allegation through her legal counsel, Jiti Ogunye, during a press briefing at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat in Lagos on Friday.
According to Bakrin-Ottun, the figures emerged from a comprehensive forensic audit and payroll validation exercise commissioned by the Osun State Government, which she said exposed widespread payroll fraud across the state’s civil and public service structures.
Attempts to obtain a response from the state government were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report. The Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Kolapo Alimi, did not respond to calls, while the governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, said the government’s position would be issued in a statement, which had not yet been released.
Bakrin-Ottun explained that her firm was formally engaged following a proposal submitted on January 11, 2023, and subsequently awarded the contract via a letter dated April 11, 2023, to audit and validate the state’s payroll. A formal agreement was signed on May 22, 2023, mandating the firm to conduct staff verification, payroll re-engineering and validation across the civil service, local governments, SUBEB, TESCOM, state-owned tertiary institutions, and all state and local government pensioners.
She described the assignment as one of the most extensive payroll audits ever undertaken in Osun State, aimed at verifying everyone receiving salaries and pensions from the state treasury.
The audit, conducted between June and December 2023, reportedly involved 125 personnel working both on-site and remotely, at a cost exceeding ₦600 million.
“The execution of the contract was extremely challenging and fraught with security threats and bureaucratic obstacles, largely because the exercise uncovered deep-seated payroll fraud and corrupt practices,” she said.
Presenting the findings, Bakrin-Ottun disclosed that as of January 2023, the state’s payroll stood at ₦4.48 billion monthly, covering 37,456 staff and 17,918 pensioners. Following the audit, the verified payroll dropped to ₦3.34 billion monthly, covering 29,004 legitimate staff and the same number of pensioners.
She said the difference indicated that 8,452 ghost workers had been illegally inserted into the payroll, resulting in a monthly loss of ₦1.14 billion and an annual loss of ₦13.72 billion to the state.
Bakrin-Ottun stated that the audit report and invoice were submitted to Governor Ademola Adeleke on June 27, 2024, first at a private presentation in Lagos and later at a public event in Osogbo on July 10, 2024. She added that despite clear contractual terms requiring payment within five working days, the government had neither paid the agreed professional fees nor implemented the recommendations.
“Payment is not dependent on implementation, but we insist that the recommendations be carried out in the interest of transparency and accountability,” she said.
She further revealed that the state government later constituted an action committee, chaired by the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Kazeem Akinleye, to review the report. The committee reportedly claimed that 433 workers and 883 retirees identified by the firm were unreachable, with a financial implication of ₦55.26 million.
Bakrin-Ottun dismissed claims that a subsequent re-verification exercise nullified her firm’s findings, describing them as an afterthought designed to avoid payment and perpetuate payroll fraud. She maintained that the contract made no provision for re-verification and questioned the government’s capacity to conduct such an exercise independently.
“The assertion that our findings are exaggerated or false is reckless, malicious and defamatory. For six months, we physically verified staff across all local governments and institutions, capturing images and ensuring full compliance following government directives. No category was excluded,” she said.
She added that the firm would petition anti-corruption agencies to investigate the matter, stressing that the move was aimed at ensuring accountability and securing payment for services rendered.