APC Demands Probe Into Alleged N13bn Payroll Fraud in Osun

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has demanded an independent probe into the alleged N13 billion payroll fraud rocking the state’s civil service, insisting that key figures within Governor Ademola Adeleke’s inner circle must answer critical questions.

At an emergency press briefing on Friday, the party leadership accused the administration of failing to provide clarity over the outcome of a staff audit reportedly conducted by Sally Tibbot Consulting Limited.

Speaking during a emergency World Press Conference on Friday, the party chairman, Tajudeen Lawal expressed concern over reports that the audit findings were presented outside formal government channels, describing the development as a breach of due process.

According to the party, allegations that thousands of ghost workers and pensioners were discovered during the audit point to systemic lapses in payroll management. It also cited claims that an estimated N13.7 billion may have been siphoned annually through fraudulent salary payments.

Lawal, through the party’s spokesman, Kola Olabisi raised questions about the role allegedly played by Dr. Deji Adeleke and the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Kazeem Akinleye, particularly regarding the implementation of the audit recommendations.

Olabisi argued that any perception of external interference in state matters undermines public confidence in governance.

Calling for transparency, the APC urged the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to step in and independently verify the allegations.

He also sought clarification on reports that a civil servant allegedly received salaries meant for over 5,000 workers and questioned the reported procurement of a N79 million Automated Payroll Administrative System (APAS), said to have been paid for without confirmed delivery.
He said, “Osun State has not only become a subject of public scrutiny among the comity of states but has also been deprived of the progress and prestige it once enjoyed.

“It is particularly troubling that the audit findings were reportedly presented to Dr Deji Adeleke, a member of the Adeleke family, while the elected governor appeared sidelined like a troubled mendicant in his oversized knickerbocker. This development raises questions about the structure of authority and accountability within the current administration.

“The troubling revelation of an alleged annual N13.7 billion payroll fraud rocking the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke, as disclosed by the Vice Chairman (Chief Executive Officer) of Sally Tibbot Consulting Limited, Saadat Ottun, has once again vindicated our party and confirmed our patriotic posture over the last three years of the Senator Ademola Adeleke administration.

“The revelation has not only validated the sheer irresponsibility and incompetence of Governor Adeleke and his horde of associates, but has also confirmed that the government in Osun is a cesspool of corruption and one that the anti-corruption agencies must beam their searchlight on to fish out the criminals and economic vagabonds milking the resources of Osun State and lining their pockets with our commonwealth.

“The alleged complicity of Dr Deji Adeleke and of the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Alhaji Kazeem Akinleye, alongside other key members of the governor’s inner circle, raises serious concerns that non-state actors and those not known to law collude with characters entrusted with the administration of the state over the past three years to shortage the people of the state and illegally enrich themselves with the wealth of the people.

“We call on statutory anti-corruption agencies, particularly the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) to thoroughly investigate the alleged payroll fraud and determine the extent of culpability of all individuals involved, especially Dr Deji Adeleke and Alhaji Kazeem Akinleye.

“It is alarming that a government of Governor Adeleke which out of vendetta and touted lack of finance sacked teachers and health workers procedurally and legitimately recruited by the APC government and forced them into labour market, could be so wicked to develop a criminal siphoning scheme where a single individual would receive into his bank account salary meant for 5, 615 ghost workers?

“It is further alleged that a civil servant under the current administration has been receiving the salaries of 5,615 government workers monthly. If this claim is accurate, and the identity has indeed been uncovered by the audit report, the continued inaction would be indefensible.

“The Chief of Staff, who reportedly heads the Implementation Committee on the staff audit report submitted by Sally Tibbot Consulting Limited, owes the people of Osun and Nigerians at large a transparent explanation regarding the handling of the findings. So also the business man and Governor Adeleke’s mentor, Dr Deji Adeleke, who has hijacked the running of government from his poorly prepared brother and lackey, Governor Adeleke.

“The matter concerning the alleged out-of-contract purchase of a recommended N79 million Automated Payroll Administrative System (APAS), for which payment was reportedly made without delivery being accepted, also requires urgent clarification.

“The people of Osun State deserve transparent, responsible, and accountable leadership. The N13.6 billion public fund being paid to ghost workers and siphoned by the friends of the governor can be judiciously used to give a good life to no fewer than 50,000 Osun youths.

“The Osun people must rise in unison to put a stop to the financial recklessness and economic bleeding going on under the nose of Governor Ademola Adeleke,” he said.