‘Alleged N13.7bn Fraud Perpetrated under Oyetola’s Govt, His Payroll Was Audited’

Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

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

He insisted that 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 (APC) for accusing 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.

“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 plan to declare them as ghost workers when they are not,” he said.

Speaking on the involvement of the governor’s elder brother, 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 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 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 paid was not ready and untested anywhere in the federation. Which governor will implement that type of report?”