Public servants in Osun State declared ghost workers by consultancy firm, Sally Tibbot Limited, have resolved to challenge the allegation in court, accusing the firm and its lead consultant of defamation and deliberate destruction of careers built over decades.

The workers, drawn from various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), said the claims amounted to character assassination and unjust stigmatisation of legitimate civil servants.

In a statement on Saturday, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Oluomo Alimi, said the affected workers had petitioned the state government, protesting their labelling as ghost workers despite participating in verification exercises during which they were duly captured.

Their decision followed a media briefing by Sally Tibbot Limited, where the firm accused the Osun State Government of shielding ghost workers by refusing to implement the outcome of a controversial staff audit.

The workers faulted the consultant for persisting with the allegations even after verification exercises, insisting they are bona fide employees with clean service records and were ready to present themselves again to prove their legitimacy.

They also accused the firm of mishandling the audit process, alleging maltreatment of workers, inhuman treatment of senior civil servants and refusal to decentralise the exercise. According to them, the audit was carried out with ulterior motives aimed at defrauding the state and tarnishing the image of the government.

Among those reportedly affected are the Vice-Chancellor of Osun State University, staff of polytechnics, professors, deans, provosts and other senior officials. Workers from over 10 agencies and several tertiary institutions were said to have been excluded from the audit and subsequently declared ghost workers.

It was further alleged that the consultant, at a point, listed the state governor, his deputy, the Secretary to the State Government and more than two-thirds of political appointees as ghost workers.

Reacting, the Osun State Government dismissed allegations of a cover-up, describing the firm’s claims as a subtle attempt at blackmail intended to force a fraudulent audit report on the state.

The government said the unusually high number of alleged ghost workers necessitated a re-verification exercise, which exposed significant inflation in the figures and confirmed that many of those listed were legitimate employees.

According to the government, it is prepared to provide proof of the existence of every affected worker if required, noting that the consultant neither requested such evidence nor submitted an acceptance letter for payment relating to about 1,316 workers reportedly not sighted during the audit.

The government also raised concerns over the consultant’s remuneration structure, which it said was tied to the amount saved from the payroll, suggesting that the claims were driven by greed rather than professionalism.

While reaffirming its commitment to sanitising the state payroll, the government said it would not remove genuine workers or implement an audit report capable of further defrauding the state.

It added that observable gaps, disputes, verifiable lapses and the unusually high number of alleged ghost workers informed the decision to set up a verification committee before any consideration of the audit report.