Alleged N13.7 billion Fraud Perpetrated Under Oyetola Government, Sally Tibbot Audited Past Administration Payroll

Mallam Olawale Rasheed, the spokesperson to Governor Ademola Adeleke, has insisted that any payroll fraud found within the Osun State civil service system was committed during the administration of former governor Gboyega Oyetola.

Rasheed said the payroll that was audited was that of the former administration, adding that Governor Adeleke would not have contracted Sally Tibbot Firm if he had anything to hide.

The governor’s spokesperson made this known when he appeared on Arise Television to make clarification on the issue of alleged N13.7 billion yearly payroll fraud in the state.

Rasheed also slammed the opposition All Progressives Congress for alleging Governor Adeleke of misconduct, noting that whatever discrepancies found in the Osun payroll were done during the administration of the APC leader in Osun who is now the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.

He said, “The governor engages Sally Tibbot and if the governor has anything to hide, he wouldn’t have done that and secondly, the payroll that was audited was that of the immediate past administration under Governor Gboyega Oyetola.

“So if there is any so-called N13 billion fraud uncovered by Sally Tibbot, it means it was a fraud perpetrated under Governor Oyetola. In other words, if there is a payroll fraud as the All Progressives Congress and the Sally Tibbot firm were saying, it is a fraud committed under the immediate past administration.

“What the press conference held by the APC in Osogbo on Friday meant was that the party was accusing their own boss of a yearly N13 billion scam which amounted to N52 billion payroll scam under former governor Oyetola.

“Governor Adeleke wanted to get rid of any fraud in the system and that was the reason why he engaged Sally Tibbot but when the firm came onboard, it was a tug of war for a year. The state was turned upside down.”

“Known state officials and staff members were declared as ghost workers. Many of them called leaders across Osun to save their souls. They eventually reached Dr Deji Adeleke from the church and several mosques to alert the governor’s brother of the plan to declare them as ghost workers when they are not”

Speaking on the involvement of the governor’s elder brother, Dr Deji Adeleke, Rasheed said there was nothing wrong, immoral or illegal in the billionaire businessman advising his brother on the issue that has to do with livelihood, submitting that “all over the world, family members are unofficial advisers of their family members in governments.

“It happened in Europe, the United States and even here in Nigeria. It was the governor who took the consultant to Dr Deji to speak on the so-called discovered ghost workers. She was not there to submit the audit report to Dr Adeleke. The report was already submitted several months earlier. Her visit was to answer those complaining about being declared ghost workers”

“It was at the meeting that known names like the Vice Chancellor of Osun State University and other known figures were discovered to have been listed as ghost workers. It was at the meeting that Sally Tibbot admitted that the payroll system she was using was not ready and untested anywhere in the federation. Which governor will implement that type of report?

According to him, Dr Adeleke only advised the governor to take a second look at the report submitted by the consulting firm which led to a unanimous agreement to set up a review committee, adding that the consultant acted unethically and unprofessionally by recording and taking pictures and videos of the meeting without authorisation.

“Anywhere in the world, there is nothing illegal in advising your brother when he is in government. During the meeting between Governor Adeleke, his brother and the consultant, the firm mentioned the Vice Chancellor of the Osun State University and other staff as ghost workers and it was at that point that the governor said that it cannot be true.

“Also, the technical team of the firm admitted that the payroll system that was developed is not ready and has never been tested. The governor deserves commendation for not imposing an untested system on the state. The administration acted well by eventually adopting the World Bank-supported system called SIFMIS.

“It was because of those two points that the governor said there was something wrong and at that meeting, they agreed to set up a review committee to look into the loopholes. On the committee were representatives of the firm, civil societies and others.

“However, because the consultant has evil intentions, she secretly recorded the family so as to use it for blackmail,” Rasheed noted.

The governor’s spokesperson also said the consulting firm boycotted the review committee meetings, adding that the committee discovered that the figure quoted by the firm as ghost workers was not true.

“The review committee was set up but the firm representatives boycotted and after the committee’s work, we discovered that instead of the 15,000 ghost workers, it was less than 500 that were not accounted for.