…As varsity threatens legal action if firm fails to apologise

The management of Osun State University (UNIOSUN) has said that Sally Tibbot Consulting Limited displayed a lack of understanding of how university systems operate by listing 250 members of staff, including the Vice-Chancellor as ghost workers.

Speaking on Saturday, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Clement Adebooye, alleged that the consulting firm targeted the institution’s employment structure through what he described as an unprofessional, fraudulent, and misleading report.

Adebooye explained that the university had submitted a list of employees who exited the institution due to retirement, resignation, or withdrawal of service between the previous staff audit in 2022 and the subsequent audit in 2023.

He expressed surprise that the firm allegedly merged the names of former staff and categorised them as ghost workers, purportedly to secure undeserved pecuniary gains.

The Vice-Chancellor called on the consulting firm to issue a formal apology to the institution and the affected individuals mentioned in the report, warning that the university would consider legal action if the firm fails to do the needful.

According to UNIOSUN Vice Chancellor, the consultant, Sally Tibbot, seemed to be grossly unfamiliar with and ignorant of the operations of the University system.

She evidently is not knowledgeable on such terms as “Sabbatical leave”, “Study leave”, “Visiting lecturer”, “Research Leave” etc.

This ignorance made her to willfully ignore the list of employees who were on Sabbatical leave, study leave, research leave, etc. and went ahead to categorise them and several workers (on ground) as ghost workers.

“The listing of 250 members of staff (on ground) as ghost workers laid credence to the suspicion that Sally Tibbot focused on her returns rather than the accountability objective of the exercise.

The University unequivocally questions the methodological basis upon which the ghost workers list was drawn, particularly in the light of documented evidence of physical verification.

As a University, we question the quality of the biometric tools and data science skill of Sally Tibbot.

“The University submitted a list of employees who had left the University due to retirement and withdrawal of service/resignation between the previous staff audit (2022) and the last one (2023).

Rather than net the figures out of the gross work force, the consultant willfully merged all of such staff and categorized them as ghost workers suspiciously to score undeserved pecuniary gain.

Even though I was present throughout the exercise and was even assisting to calm angry workers down, Messrs Sally Tibbot report categorized me as a ghost worker. What an insult to my personality and the Office of the Vice-Chancellor!

“For the avoidance of doubt, Osun State University is a law-abiding public institution founded on principles of accountability, due process, and verifiable record-keeping. Our payroll system, personnel documentation, and administrative procedures are subject to statutory oversight and monthly review by relevant authorities.

“Indeed, our University carries out monthly staff audit through the “Salary Checker” system. Only members of staff who have been certified on the salary checker by the 18th of the month can earn the salary for that month.

“Ours is a real-time verification that is fool proof. Our system does not allow salary padding let alone ghost workers. In fact, as of today, we have a total of 1463 workers in our 6 campuses.

“Messrs Sally Tibbot Consulting breached the standard audit procedure by fencing the employer from verifying the employees.

This is the global practice of procedural principle of fairness in audit. It is not acceptable for an audit report to be insulated against review by the principal. In standard practice, there is

“Management Letter” that accompanies every audit report to which the client is expected to respond to before the audit report is finalized.

“Unfortunately, Sally Tibbot never wanted this to happen. The company wanted legitimate workers to be summarily declared as ghost workers.

Therefore, both the Governing Council and Management of Osun State University view the consultant’s report as being precariously subjective, in bad faith, unprofessional and a deliberate attempt to smear the image and reputation of the University with falsehood and malice.

Having established the above, we request a formal apology to the institution and affected individuals from Sally Tibbot.

“The Vice-Chancellor and eminent Professors have been bombarded by embarrassing telephone calls, messages and letters from local and international organizations because of the embarrassing audit report.

Universities are custodians of knowledge and character. Allegations affecting their integrity must therefore be handled with the highest level of professional caution. Public statements capable of diminishing institutional reputation should always be preceded by rigorous verification, particularly where they concern identifiable individuals whose records are readily accessible.

We take exception to Sally Tibbot audit report and we are willing to take further necessary action as permitted by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“We wish to emphasize that this university remains fully open 24/7 to any lawful, properly constituted, and professionally conducted review by competent authorities.

“We are confident that any independent reassessment carried out in strict compliance with recognized auditing standards will confirm the accuracy of our records and the legitimacy of our personnel.

Let me conclude by reaffirming that Osun State University stands for truth, professionalism, and accountability. We urge all parties involved to approach this matter with the seriousness it deserves, guided by facts and established standards rather than conjecture.

“The Osun State University feels unrepentant to state that the audit report by Sally Tibbot, especially the section that listed the Vice-Chancellor and 249 legitimate workers of the University as ghost workers is useless documentation meant to be thrown into paper shredding machine, the shredded material into the dustbin and finally to the incinerator.

“Sally Tibbot targeted our employment through their unprofessional, fraudulent and misleading report. As I said, the University and her members will act individually, severally and as body corporate to address the Sally Tibbot mischief as guaranteed in our rights as Nigerians, he said.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), UNIOSUN branch, Comrade Olusegun Adebayo, expressed surprise at seeing his name listed among the university’s alleged ghost workers after he had participated in the 2023 audit exercise.

He described the report as incompetent, stating that he joined the university in 2007 as one of its pioneer staff members at its establishment.