Osun APC Demands Adeleke’s Probe Over ₦13 Billion Payroll Fraud

Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has called on the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate the alleged payroll fraud that has pitched the State Government and a consulting firm, Sally Tibbot Limited.

The party said the probe is necessary to determine the extent of culpability of all individuals involved.

Addressing journalists in Osogbo on Friday regarding the buck-passing between the state government and CEO of Sally Tibbot, Sa’adat Bakrin-Ottun on the refusal to implement the report of staff audit exercise the company carried out onbehalf of the Adeleke administration, Osun APC spokesperson, Mr Kola Olabisi, expressed concern Governor Ademola Adeleke’s handling of the alleged payroll fraud.

Olabisi further said, “It is particularly troubling that the audit findings were reportedly presented to Dr Deji Adeleke, a member of the Adeleke family, while the elected governor appeared sidelined like a troubled mendicant in his oversized knickerbocker. This development raises questions about the structure of authority and accountability within the current administration.

“One is compelled to ask: what official role does Dr Deji Adeleke play in the verification of state government documents, especially having publicly distanced himself from partisan politics in the past? The people of Osun State deserve clarity on this matter.

“We call on statutory anti-corruption agencies, particularly the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) to thoroughly investigate the alleged payroll fraud and determine the extent of culpability of all individuals involved, especially Dr Deji Adeleke and Alhaji Kazeem Akinleye.”

Rising in Adeleke’s defence, Osun State PDP chairman, Sunday Bisi, said it was revealing that the APC has become the loudest defender of a consultant whose figures crumbled under simple verification.

Bisi in a statement said, “Birds of the same feather, indeed, flock together. The people of Osun can now clearly see the political partnership between a discredited party and a questionable report designed to discredit a performing government.

“If there is any fraud to be investigated, it is the legacy payroll mess inherited from the past government, the very system now being sanitised through reforms introduced by the Adeleke administration.

“We therefore challenge the APC to stop the propaganda and instead present verifiable evidence, if any, to anti-corruption agencies rather than staging media calisthenics.
Osun people are politically enlightened beyond some beer parlour craftings. They understand that the noise of the opposition grows louder whenever transparent governance exposes the rot of the past.”

The PDP reiterated its full confidence in Adeleke’s commitment to accountability and welcomes any credible investigation that will permanently uncover the truth

Source:- Punchng