Uniosun rejects consultant’s claims of N13.7bn payroll irregularities
The management of Osun State University (Uniosun) has refuted claims by consultant Sally Tibbot Limited alleging a N13.7 billion payroll fraud involving the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Clement Adebooye, and 249
The management of Osun State University (Uniosun) has refuted claims by consultant Sally Tibbot Limited alleging a N13.7 billion payroll fraud involving the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Clement Adebooye, and 249 staff members.
The Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the firm, Sa’adat Bakrin-Ottun, had stated that the state government was paying salaries for purported “ghost workers” amounting to N13,716,914,129.28 annually, including allegations that a single individual received payments meant for 5,615 staff.
Osun State Government rejected the claims and petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the consultant’s report.
Addressing journalists on Saturday, Uniosun’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Adebooye, described the allegations as false, misleading, and damaging to the university’s reputation, insisting that all personnel on the university payroll are verifiable and duly employed.
He explained, “In May/June 2023 a statewide personnel verification exercise was conducted. The consultant submitted a report. Unfortunately to our utmost surprise, the report classified the 250 legitimate workers of the University, including the Vice-Chancellor and 249 others as “ghost workers.” This classification was particularly troubling and psychologically disturbing because the individuals concerned physically appeared, presented valid credentials, and complied fully with the verification process.”
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Adegbooye noted that section of the report that affects the University raises serious regulatory, ethical, and professional questions against the consultant and against the consultant's expertise as a personnel auditor.
He recalled that the whole staff members of the University numbering 1017 as of August 2023 were scheduled to be verified in just one day, Friday 18th August, 2023), along with many employees of the State from other parastatals, the Consultant’s personnel were grossly inadequate and unskilled to cope with this multitude.
He declared that the university has total number of 1,463 workers among which we have 628 academic staff, 466 non-teaching staff, 235 support staff and 134 corps members.
The VC threatened legal action against the consultant as he demanded for public apology from Sally Tibbot Limited.
The chairman of Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (SSANU), Comrade John Adebayo condemned the consultant's claims, recalling that he had berated the conduct of staff audit since the exercise.
