The Osun State Government has again strongly refuted allegations of N13 billion payroll scam by a consulting firm, Sally Tibbot limited, describing the renewal of the allegation as an APC sponsored fake news.
The state government insisted that there was no N13 billion naira payroll fraud as verification of the controversial audit report confirmed that more than two third of those declared ghost workers are bonafide civil servants working for the state with full identification and documentation.
In a strongly worded statement on Friday morning, the state government, through the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. Kolapo Alimi made available to journalists in Osogbo, the state capital declared that Governor Ademola Adeleke is open to the investigation of the staff audit report by anti- corruption agencies.
Alimi added that the state government, was the actual initiator of the audit project in the first place, adding that if there is any fraud in the said report the former Governor of the state and current Minister for Marine and Blue Economy, Alhaji Isiaka Oyetola should be held responsible.
“We submit that Governor Adeleke hired the consultant to probe reports and rumours of padded payroll inherited from the Gboyega Oyetola administration. If there is any fraud, it is not that of Governor Adeleke but that of former Governor Oyetola as the audited payroll was inherited from the Oyetola administration.
“We inform the public that the governor will be happy if 15,000 ghost workers can truly be fished out. This was the reason why the Governor initially insisted against all odds that the audit report must be fully implemented before credible loopholes were discovered in the report.
“As of now, the Governor will be more than elated if the EFCC and the ICPC can help to identify the ghost workers. So the call by Sally Tibbot for the involvement of the anti-corruption agencies is most warmly welcome. The governor has nothing to hide especially as the payroll audit in question was between 2018 to November 2023.”
