A forensic audit firm, SALLY TIBBOT Consulting Limited, has alleged that the Osun State Government lost about ₦13.7 billion annually to payroll fraud following the insertion of 8,452 ghost workers into the state’s wage system.

The allegation was made on Friday in Lagos by the firm’s Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sa’adat Bakrin-Ottun, who spoke through her lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, at a press conference held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat.

Bakrin-Ottun said the figures emerged from a comprehensive forensic audit and payroll validation exercise carried out for the Osun State Government, which allegedly exposed widespread irregularities in the state’s civil and public service payroll structure.

According to her, the firm was formally engaged by the state government following a proposal dated January 11, 2023, and subsequently awarded the contract through a letter dated April 11, 2023. A formal agreement was executed on May 22, 2023, mandating the firm to conduct staff verification, payroll re-engineering and validation across the state civil service, local governments, the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Teaching Service Commission, state-owned tertiary institutions, as well as state and local government pensioners.

She said the audit, conducted between June and December 2023, involved the deployment of 125 personnel and cost the firm over ₦600 million to execute.

Bakrin-Ottun described the exercise as one of the most extensive payroll audits ever undertaken in the state, adding that it was fraught with security threats and bureaucratic resistance due to the scale of fraud allegedly uncovered.

Presenting the findings, she said that as of January 2023, Osun State’s payroll stood at ₦4.48 billion monthly, covering 37,456 staff and 17,918 pensioners.

However, following the audit, the verified payroll was reduced to ₦3.34 billion monthly, covering 29,004 genuine workers and the same number of pensioners.

She said the reduction revealed the presence of 8,452 ghost workers, resulting in a monthly loss of ₦1.14 billion and an annual loss of ₦13.72 billion to the state.

The audit report and an accompanying invoice, she added, were submitted to Governor Ademola Adeleke on June 27, 2024, during a private presentation in Lagos, and later at a public event in Osogbo on July 10, 2024.

Bakrin-Ottun lamented that despite the submission of the report, the state government had neither implemented the recommendations nor paid the firm’s professional fees, contrary to the contract terms which stipulate payment within five working days.

She also rejected claims by the state government that a subsequent re-verification exercise invalidated the firm’s findings, describing the move as an afterthought aimed at avoiding payment and perpetuating payroll fraud.

According to her, the contract did not provide for any re-verification exercise after submission of the report, stressing that the state government lacked the capacity to independently conduct such an audit.

She said the firm had no option but to call on relevant anti-corruption agencies to investigate the matter in the interest of transparency and accountability.

Efforts to get reactions from the Osun State Government were unsuccessful as of press time. The Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Kolapo Alimi, did not respond to calls, while the governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, promised to issue a statement but had yet to do so.