Consultants move to EFCC, ICPC over N13.7bn Osun payroll claim

An audit firm, Salivot Consulting Limited, has alleged a massive N13.7 billion annual payroll fraud involving thousands of ghost workers and pensioners in Osun State.

The firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Sadat Bakrin-Ottun, revealed the findings during an appearance on Politics Tonight on Channels Television, saying a 12-month forensic audit uncovered widespread payroll irregularities under the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke.

According to her, the review — reportedly commissioned to sanitise the state workforce — identified 8,452 workers and 5,831 pensioners who failed to appear for physical and biometric verification.

She also cited extreme cases of alleged manipulation, including a single bank account tied to one BVN receiving 962 salaries monthly, while another account was credited with 5,615 salaries.

The Osun State Government has rejected the allegations, accusing the consulting firm of professional misconduct and inflating figures to boost its earnings under a “no savings, no pay” contract.

Officials maintain that only 1,316 workers remain unverified and insist that several individuals flagged by the firm are legitimate employees the government chose not to remove from the payroll.

Bakrin-Ottun, however, stood by the audit, saying the findings were supported by biometric data.

She claimed that although the governor initially backed the exercise, implementation stalled after the report was submitted in July 2024, leading to tensions with senior government officials.

The firm’s legal counsel said the dispute now extends beyond unpaid fees, adding that the consultants plan to petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate those allegedly responsible for siphoning public funds.

With the state yet to issue a detailed response to the claims of multiple salary payments into single accounts, the controversy continues to raise questions about the government’s assertion that it has reduced the monthly wage bill by N1 billion, prompting renewed calls for transparency and an independent probe into the payroll system.