The Osun State Government has dismissed allegations of a cover-up in the handling of ghost workers in the state public service, describing claims by Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd as a calculated attempt to blackmail the government into accepting what it termed a fraudulent staff audit report.
The government made this known in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. Kolapo Alimi, in response to a press briefing by the consulting firm accusing the state of suppressing findings from its payroll verification.
According to the government, the unusually high number of alleged ghost workers and retirees presented by the consultant necessitated a re-verification, which subsequently revealed significant inflation in the figures earlier submitted by the firm.
The re-verification showed that a large number of individuals earlier classified as ghost workers by the consultant were, in fact, legitimate employees and retirees of the Osun State Government.
The government stated that it was willing to furnish Sally Tibbot Consulting with documentary proof of the existence of the verified workers if required, noting however that the company neither requested such proof nor submitted an acceptance letter for payment based on the 1,316 workers who were eventually confirmed as genuinely untraceable.
It further described the consultant’s claims as suspicious, especially given that the firm’s fees were tied to the amount of money purportedly saved for the state through the audit.
The government alleged that the exercise was characterised by high-handedness, exclusion of staff during the verification process, and deliberate maltreatment of workers, all of which, it said, pointed to an attempt to inflate figures for financial gain.
While reaffirming its commitment to sanitising the state payroll, the government maintained that it could not, in good conscience, remove legitimate workers from the payroll or implement an audit report capable of defrauding the state.
It added that it was within its rights to review the consultant’s report before implementation, particularly in view of what it described as glaring gaps, verifiable lapses, and disputes that arose during the audit process.
Sally Tibbot Consulting had claimed that 8,448 workers were unseen and declared 6,713 retirees as ghost retirees, a conclusion the government said was reached without making adequate efforts to contact the affected individuals to determine reasons for their absence, such as ill health.
Following an in-depth review of the consultant’s report, the government said it confirmed 8,015 out of the 8,448 workers earlier declared unseen as active employees, while only 433 could not be reached. Similarly, out of 6,713 retirees labelled as ghost workers, 5,830 were confirmed to exist, with 883 remaining unreachable.
The state government explained that this reduced the actual number of unseen workers and retirees to about 1,316, as against the 15,161 claimed by the consultant, leading to a drastic reduction in the fees payable to the firm under the terms of their agreement.
The government also outlined a series of correspondences between both parties, noting that after receiving a letter of demand dated June 25, 2025 from the consultant’s counsel, it responded on July 8, 2025, proposing payment based on the actual number of confirmed ghost workers while further verification continued.
However, the consultant reportedly insisted on payment based on the original inflated figure, arguing that the agreement did not envisage a rẹ-verification.
In its response, the government stressed that the Memorandum of Understanding clearly tied payment to the actual amount saved by the state, not speculative or inflated figures, and said this position was communicated to the consultant in subsequent letters.
The government said it stood by the recommendations of its re-verification committee, which established that the total annual savings from the confirmed unseen personnel amounted to ₦27,077,847.60, contrary to the ₦1.318 billion earlier claimed by the consulting firm.
Based on the committee’s findings, the government approved the permanent stoppage of salaries, pensions, and palliatives of the confirmed unseen staff with effect from July 2025.
It also approved payment of ₦48,740,125.68 to Sally Tibbot Consulting, representing 159 per cent of the annual gross salaries and allowances saved, in line with the relevant provisions of the MoU.
The Osun State Government reiterated its resolve to protect public funds while ensuring fairness to legitimate workers and retirees in the state public service.
