Gov rejects ‘inflated audit report’
The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Osun State, Mr Bola Oyebamiji, has disclosed that, irrespective of propaganda, he will still defeat Governor Ademola Adeleke in a landslide in the August 8, 2026, governorship election.
Meanwhile, the state government has rejected claims by Sally Tibbot Limited that 8,452 workers on the state payroll were “ghost workers,” insisting that a re-validation exercise revealed only 1,316 unseen employees and pensioners.
Oyebamiji, popularly known as AMBO, while speaking at the APC youths reconciliation summit at the party secretariat in Osogbo yesterday, said the propaganda the present administration embarked on would not save it from defeat.
He tasked APC members, especially the youth, to counter the negative propaganda being spread against the APC and his candidature by the present administration by going door-to-door, house-to-house and on the street.
He added: “Our opponents have started lying to the Osun people. You must break asunder their lies. We are taking over by 2026. Don’t be afraid, no one will do anything against you.”
“I want to assure you that 2026 will not be like 2022. We should work very well.”
The former Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) acknowledged the importance of youth in the election victory; hence, he tasked APC youths to own the project with a view to delivering success to the party.
Responding to Sally Tibbot Limited, the government described the press briefing by the consulting firm as a subtle attempt to pressure the state into accepting an inflated audit report.
The Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment said many of the workers flagged as “ghosts” by the firm were legitimate employees and retirees, and that the company had neither requested proof of their existence nor accepted payment based on the overstated figures.
The firm, hired in January 2023 to conduct a staff audit, had claimed that Osun was paying ghost workers N13,716,914,129.28 yearly.
Sally Tibbot Consulting had declared 8,448 workers as ghost retirees, a conclusion the government said was reached without efforts to call the affected persons to ascertain reasons for their absence.
The state government confirmed 8,015 out of the 8,448 workers as active staff, with only 433 found to be unreachable.
Reacting to the controversy, Allied Peoples Movement (APM) governorship candidate in Osun, Adewale Adebayo, described Adeleke’s defence as evasive and contradictory.
