Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has welcomed calls for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to review allegations of 8,452 ghost workers on the state payroll.
The call was made by a forensic audit firm, Sally Tibbot, which accused the state government of paying over N13.7bn annually to non-existent workers. In a statement signed by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, and shared with Sunday PUNCH, Adeleke said the anti-graft agencies were free to scrutinise the payroll inherited from the administration of his predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola.
According to the governor, the payroll and personnel records under review were those handed over by the previous government. He added that officials of the Oyetola administration should be prepared for the exercise.
“What they will be checking and reviewing is the payroll and personnel list inherited from the Oyetola administration. We therefore welcome the call for the EFCC and ICPC to review the audit report submitted by Sally Tibbot,” Adeleke said.
Saturday PUNCH had earlier reported that the audit firm alleged that ghost workers were paid a total of N13,716,914,129.28 annually. The firm’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sa’adat Bakrin-Ottun, said the figures emerged from a comprehensive forensic audit and payroll validation exercise, which uncovered widespread payroll fraud in the state’s civil and public service.
Bakrin-Ottun disclosed that as of January 2023, Osun’s monthly payroll stood at N4.48bn for 37,456 staff and 17,918 pensioners. Following the audit, she said the verified payroll was reduced to N3.34bn monthly, covering 29,004 genuine workers and the same number of pensioners.
However, Adeleke maintained that his administration neither expanded nor altered the payroll structure it inherited, stressing that the audit focused on records from the previous government.
The governor also said his administration deserved commendation for rejecting recommendations that could have led to the dismissal of legitimate workers for personal gain, noting that efforts were ongoing to sanitise the system and prevent further fraud.
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