Audit agency uncovers 8,452 ghost employees in Osun, govt accuses marketing consultant of inflating determine

The Osun State Authorities has denied allegations of alleged cowl up of ghost employees’ indictment inside 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 workers 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 employees 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 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 mentioned the figures emerged from a complete forensic audit and payroll validation train performed for the Osun State Authorities, which, in response to her, revealed pervasive payroll fraud inside the state’s civil and public service system.

Responding to the allegations from the corporate, the state authorities, by an announcement by its Commissioner for Data and Public Enlightenment, Kola Alimi, mentioned the weird excessive numbers of alleged ghost employees by the marketing consultant led to a re- verification train which shockingly revealed in depth inflation of the supposed variety of ghost employees and which confirmed that these the corporate claimed had been ghost employees confirmed up that they had been legit staff of the state authorities.

The State Authorities additional proposed to furnish the corporate with proof of the existence of every of those employees, if the identical is required.

“Nevertheless, the corporate didn’t at any cut-off date request for such proof nor ship an acceptance letter for fee primarily based on about 1,316 employees who weren’t seen,” Alimi claimed.

The federal government famous that the complete saga grew to become extra suspicious, particularly as firm’s charges was primarily based on the sum of money she saves the State authorities on the payroll, indicating that the corporate’s declare was primarily based on greed particularly going by the marketing consultant’s excessive handedness, open exclusion of workers throughout auditing course of and deliberate maltreatment of employees that characterised the complete audit processes.

It additional submitted that whereas it was keen to wash up the state payroll, it cannot in good conscience take away legit 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 overview 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 employees compelled the organising of a verification committee as a prelude to the implementation of the workers audit report.

“Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd had declared 8,448 employees as unseen employees whereas 6,713 retirees had been declared as ghost retirees. However the conclusion was arrived at by the corporate with out making any efforts to name every of those employees 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, to be able to keep away from a scenario the place an sincere employee could be declared a ghost employee solely by purpose 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 entire variety of 8,448 employees declared by Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd as unseen employees, the Osun State Authorities was in a position to affirm 8,015 as energetic employees whereas 433 employees had been discovered to be unreachable.

Additionally, out of the entire variety of 6,713 retirees declared as ghost employees by Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd as unseen employees, the Osun State Authorities was in a position to affirm the existence of 5,830 retirees whereas 883 couldn’t be reached.

The implication of that is that the share declare payable to Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd decreased drastically by advantage of the truth that the mentioned Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd tried to reap the place she didn’t sow by inflating the variety of ghost employees/retirees to fifteen,161 when in precise reality, the unseen employees/retirees are about 1,316,” he mentioned.

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 her counsel, Ire Egert-Olusesi (Mrs.) of the agency of Musibau Adetunbi SAN & Co., responded through a letter dated eighth July, 2025 explaining in particulars, the should be completely positive of the precise quantity that was saved by Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd by the verification train, contemplating the truth that fee to the mentioned Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd relies on the share of the quantity saved.

Alimi mentioned, “The Osun State Authorities by the mentioned letter, additional proposed that fee be made on the quantity of the particular ghost employees ascertained, i.e. about 1,316 whereas extra verification is carried out. Copies of the mentioned letters dated twenty fifth June, 2025 and eighth July, 2025 are herein hooked up as Annexures 1 and a pair of.

On twenty third July, 2025, the counsel to Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd wrote one other letter insisting that fee needs to be made on 15,161 as in opposition to the about 1,316 employees, claiming that the Contract between the corporate and Osun State Authorities didn’t envisage a re-verification train by the federal government.

The mentioned Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd didn’t avert her thoughts to the truth that fee, by the Contract 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 Contract between the events solely envisaged fee to the corporate primarily based on the precise financial savings.”

The State Authorities, by her counsel, additional referred the corporate to the related Clause of the Treaty executed between each events.

“It needs to be emphasised that the state authorities stands by the suggestions of its re- verification committee which said as follows:

That the entire emolument (good points) 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 principle Committee was of the conviction that sufficient time and motion have been taken on the re-verification train, primarily based on this, it recommends as follows:

That the salaries and pensions in addition to palliatives of the unseen workers (energetic 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 save lots of in a single yr in keeping with Part 3(3.1) of the MoU between the State Authorities and the Consulting agency on the train,” the assertion famous.