Osun Government Engages Audit Firm Following Payroll Audit Findings

A staff audit initiated by the

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Osun State Government

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shortly after Governor Ademola Adeleke took office in 2022 has come back into the spotlight as issues surrounding alleged payroll discrepancies unfold in the state.

The audit report, known as the ‘Report of the Osun State Staff Audit, Appointment and Promotion,’ was conducted prior to the government’s engagement of the private firm, Sally Tibbot Consulting Limited, which was later retained to perform an extensive payroll review.

Recently, the document was disclosed by Jiti Ogunye, a senior advocate representing Sally Tibbot Consulting Limited. This audit revealed claims last year that the state was experiencing losses in the billions annually due to payroll inaccuracies, which the Osun State Government has strongly contested.

Ogunye stated that the review was carried out by a committee formed by the government in response to concerns regarding the reliability of employee records and payroll data across various ministries, departments, and agencies.

The findings of the committee highlighted troubles verifying personnel records, discrepancies between the reported staffing numbers and payroll data, as well as lapses in following proper procedures for appointments and promotions.

The committee found itself unable to execute a physical staff audit across all agencies due to time limitations. Instead, it analyzed data from the Central Human Capital Management System (CHAMMS) and a recent annual staff audit conducted in January 2022.

From these records, it reported a total staffing figure of 39,106 as recorded by CHAMMS, against 38,268 reported by the Ministry of Human Resources.

The committee suggested that stricter payroll controls and additional verification processes be implemented to rectify the identified discrepancies.

Meanwhile, Sally Tibbot Consulting’s findings indicated that as of January 2023, the state payroll accounted for 37,456 active employees and 17,918 pensioners, leading to a monthly wage bill of N4.48 billion. The firm asserted that only 29,004 of these employees were legitimate, exposing 8,452 alleged ghost workers. Their removal, they claimed, would reduce the monthly payroll to N3.34 billion, yielding annual savings of approximately N13.72 billion for the state.

Conversely, the Osun State Government firmly disputed these allegations. They stated that an in-house verification conducted after receiving the audit findings showed that the majority of individuals flagged as ghost employees were legitimate staff or retirees.

According to the government, from the 8,448 active employees identified as unaccounted for in the audit, 8,015 were confirmed as authentic, with only 433 untraceable. Likewise, out of 6,713 retirees initially marked as ghost pensioners, 5,830 were verified, leaving 883 still under question.

The total number of individuals deemed unverifiable was thus about 1,316, significantly fewer than the 15,161 indicated by the consulting firm.

The consultancy has accused the state government of not fulfilling financial obligations as per their agreement and not taking adequate steps to implement their recommendations.

The dispute between both parties intensified as they exchanged allegations, with the consultancy claiming that the state's re-verification process was flawed and conducted outside the original agreement's parameters. The government, however, insisted that it had substantial evidence to reinforce its claims.