By Newspot Nigeria News Desk
A dispute has broken out between the Osun State Government and a Lagos-based forensic audit firm over the outcome of a payroll verification exercise carried out for the state.
Last week, Sally Tibbot Consulting Limited alleged that its audit uncovered payroll irregularities that could save Osun State about ₦13.7 billion annually, largely through the identification and removal of ghost workers. The firm also claimed that the state failed to implement its recommendations and has not paid agreed professional fees.
According to the firm, payroll records as of January 2023 listed 37,456 active workers and 17,918 pensioners, with a combined monthly wage bill of ₦4.48 billion. It said its verification exercise confirmed only 29,004 staff members as genuine, leaving 8,452 individuals without valid employment records. Based on this, the firm projected monthly savings of ₦1.14 billion.
The firm said its final report and invoice were submitted to Governor Ademola Adeleke in June 2024 and later presented publicly at a government-organised event in Osogbo. Its lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, said repeated efforts to secure implementation of the report and payment for the work done were unsuccessful.
The Osun State Government has since rejected the claims. In an official response, the state said a re-verification exercise showed that most workers initially tagged as “unseen” later appeared and were confirmed as legitimate employees. Officials said only about 1,316 individuals, including workers and retirees, remained untraceable after the review.
The government also said payment to the consultant was tied to actual, verified savings, not projected figures, and disclosed that it approved a payment of about ₦48.7 million based on its own assessment. It added that salaries and pensions linked to untraceable individuals were stopped from July 2025.
With both sides holding firmly to their positions and the full audit documents not publicly released, the disagreement remains unresolved. The controversy has once again drawn attention to the challenges of payroll integrity and accountability in Nigeria’s public service.
