Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has officially called for an investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over alleged payroll padding in the state’s civil service.
In a letter dated February 20, 2026, and forwarded to the ICPC Chairman through the commission’s Osogbo office, Adeleke requested a thorough verification of findings from a recent staff audit of the state payroll.
The governor stated that upon taking office, his administration was confronted with allegations of ghost workers and an inflated wage bill, which he said were inherited from the tenure of former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola. According to the letter, “the state government engaged Sally Tibbot, an audit firm, to examine the payroll records covering the period from 2018 to November 2022.
“The review was intended to assess the integrity of the staff list and verify expenditure on personnel.
“The audit firm submitted its report on 27 June 2024.”
Governor Adeleke stated that he subsequently directed the implementation of its recommendations in line with his administration’s objective of removing any identified irregularities.
However, the governor noted that controversy followed the publication of the audit findings, particularly after some senior officials were reportedly listed among alleged ghost workers.
“In view of the controversies generated, I constituted a review committee comprising representatives of the audit firm and labour union leaders in the state,” the letter read.
The committee was tasked with examining the original audit findings and addressing concerns raised by stakeholders regarding the inclusion of certain names on the list.
Governor Adeleke also requested that the ICPC deploy forensic auditors to examine both the initial audit report and the review committee’s findings.
He said the purpose was “to authenticate the correctness or otherwise of the review committee report vis-à-vis the report submitted by the audit firm.”
The governor confirmed that copies of both reports had been forwarded to the commission and expressed appreciation for the agency’s anticipated consideration of the request.