The Osun State Government has denied allegations of covering up indicted ghost workers in the state public service, accusing Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd of inflating figures in its staff audit report in an alleged attempt to defraud the government.
The government described a recent press briefing by the firm as a subtle act of blackmail aimed at forcing acceptance of what it called a fraudulent audit report.
Responding to the claims, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kola Alimi, said the unusually high number of alleged ghost workers listed by the consultant necessitated a re-verification exercise, which revealed that many of those declared as ghost workers were, in fact, legitimate employees of the state government.
Alimi said the government was prepared to furnish the consulting firm with proof of the existence of each verified worker if requested.
“However, the company did not at any point in time request for such proof nor send an acceptance letter for payment based on about 1,316 workers who were not seen,” he claimed.
The government said the controversy became more suspicious because the consultant’s fees were tied to the amount of money allegedly saved for the state through the audit, suggesting that the firm’s claims were driven by greed.
It also accused the consultant of high-handedness, open exclusion of staff during the audit process and deliberate maltreatment of workers.
The state government maintained that while it was committed to sanitising the payroll, it could not in good conscience remove legitimate employees or implement an audit report capable of further defrauding the state.
Alimi said it was within the government’s right to review the audit report before implementation, adding that gaps, verifiable lapses, disputes during the audit process and the unusually high number of alleged ghost workers informed the decision to set up a re-verification committee.
“Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd had declared 8,448 workers as unseen workers while 6,713 retirees were declared as ghost retirees. But the conclusion was arrived at by the company without making any efforts to call each of these workers to ascertain the reason for their absence.
“Upon the receipt of the report of the exercise carried out by Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd, in order to avoid a situation where an honest worker would be declared a ghost worker only by reason of such worker’s absence from verification, especially if the reason for such absence is ill-health, the Osun State Government carried out an in-depth analysis of the report and the following was discovered:
“Out of the total number of 8,448 workers declared by Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd as unseen workers, the Osun State Government was able to confirm 8,015 as active workers while 433 workers were found to be unreachable.
“Also, out of the total number of 6,713 retirees declared as ghost workers by Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd as unseen workers, the Osun State Government was able to confirm the existence of 5,830 retirees while 883 could not be reached.
“The implication of this is that the percentage claim payable to Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd reduced drastically by virtue of the fact that the said Sally Tibbot Consulting (Nig.) Ltd attempted to reap where she did not sow by inflating the number of ghost workers/retirees to 15,161 when in actual fact, the unseen workers/retirees are about 1,316,” he said.
Alimi further explained that following a letter of demand dated June 25, 2025, written by Jiti Ogunye, counsel to the consulting firm, the state government, through its counsel, Ire Egert-Olusesi (Mrs.) of Musibau Adetunbi SAN & Co., responded on July 8, 2025, stressing the need to establish the exact amount saved by the audit exercise, since payment was percentage-based.
The government proposed that payment be made based on the verified figure of about 1,316 ghost workers, pending further verification. Copies of the correspondence dated June 25 and July 8, 2025, were attached as annexures, the statement said.
Alimi said the firm’s counsel again wrote on July 23, 2025, insisting on payment based on 15,161 workers and arguing that the agreement did not provide for re-verification.
The government responded on August 5, 2025, reiterating that payment under the agreement was strictly tied to actual savings realised by the state.
“It should be emphasised that the state government stands by the recommendations of its re-verification committee which stated as follows:
“That the total emolument (gains) to the government from the unseen personnel is Twenty-seven Million, Seventy-seven Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty-Seven Naira, Sixty Kobo (N27,077,847.60) only as opposed to One Billion, Three Hundred and Fifteen Million, Three Hundred and Seventeen Thousand, Six Hundred and Sixty-four Naira, Three Kobo (N1,318,317,664.03) given by the consulting firm.
“That the main committee was of the conviction that enough time and action have been taken on the re-verification exercise and based on this, it recommends as follows:
“That the salaries and pensions as well as palliatives of the unseen staff (active and retirees) be permanently stopped with effect from July 2025;
“That the consultant be paid the sum of Forty-eight Million, Seven Hundred and Forty Thousand, One Hundred and Twenty-five Naira, Sixty-eight Kobo (N48,740,125.68) representing 159 per cent of the annual gross salaries and allowances the re-verification enabled the government to save in one year in line with Section 3(3.1) of the MoU between the state government and the consulting firm on the exercise,” the statement noted.
