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Osogbo, January 9, 2026 — The Osun State Government has dismissed allegations of a cover-up in the payroll verification exercise conducted by Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd, accusing the firm of inflating figures and attempting to blackmail the state into accepting a fraudulent audit report.
In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Kolapo Alimi, the government said the unusually high number of alleged ghost workers presented by the consultant necessitated a re-verification exercise, which ultimately exposed massive inflation in the figures submitted.
According to the government, the re-verification revealed that a large number of workers earlier declared as “ghost workers” by the consultant were, in fact, legitimate employees of the Osun State Government who later appeared and were confirmed to be active.
The government stated that it was ready to provide documentary proof of the existence of the verified workers if required. However, it noted that Sally Tibbot Consulting neither requested such proof nor submitted an acceptance letter for payment based on the 1,316 workers who were genuinely confirmed as unseen.
The state further described the consultant’s actions as suspicious, noting that the firm’s remuneration was tied to the amount allegedly saved by eliminating ghost workers from the payroll. This, the government said, may have driven the consultant to exaggerate figures, citing alleged high-handedness, exclusion of staff during the audit process, and maltreatment of workers throughout the exercise.
While reiterating its commitment to sanitising the state payroll, the government stressed that it could not, in good conscience, remove legitimate workers from the payroll or implement an audit report capable of further defrauding the state.
The government also clarified that it reserves the right to review any audit report before implementation, especially where gaps, verifiable lapses, disputes, and abnormally high figures exist. These concerns, it said, led to the establishment of a re-verification committee as a preliminary step to implementation.
Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd had earlier declared 8,448 workers as unseen and 6,713 retirees as ghost pensioners, arriving at this conclusion without calling the affected individuals to ascertain reasons for their absence, including possible ill-health.
Following a detailed analysis of the consultant’s report, the Osun State Government disclosed that out of the 8,448 workers declared unseen, 8,015 were confirmed as active employees, while only 433 were unreachable. Similarly, of the 6,713 retirees labelled as ghost workers, 5,830 were confirmed to exist, with 883 remaining unreachable.
This brought the actual number of unseen workers and retirees to about 1,316, as against the 15,161 claimed by the consultant. The government said this drastic reduction significantly affected the percentage-based fee being demanded by Sally Tibbot Consulting.
The government explained that following a letter of demand dated June 25, 2025, from the consultant’s counsel, Jiti Ogunye, SAN, it responded through its own counsel, Ire Egert-Olusesi (Mrs.) of Musibau Adetunbi SAN & Co., via a letter dated July 8, 2025, proposing payment based strictly on the actual savings realised from the verification exercise.
Despite this, the consultant’s counsel wrote again on July 23, 2025, insisting on payment based on the inflated figure of 15,161, arguing that the agreement did not allow for re-verification by the government. The Osun State Government, in a letter dated August 5, 2025, rejected this claim, pointing out that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) clearly stipulates payment based on actual savings.
The government said it stands firmly by the findings of its re-verification committee, which concluded that the total financial gain to the state from the unseen personnel stood at ₦27,077,847.60, contrary to the ₦1.318 billion claimed by the consultant.
Based on this, the committee recommended that salaries, pensions, and palliatives of confirmed unseen staff—both active and retired—be permanently stopped from July 2025, and that Sally Tibbot Consulting be paid ₦48,740,125.68, representing 159 percent of the annual gross savings, in line with Section 3(3.1) of the MoU.
The Osun State Government reiterated its resolve to protect public funds while ensuring that no legitimate worker is unjustly penalised.
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