By John Dike, Osogbo
Osun State chapters of the Accord Party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have engaged in a heated exchange over responsibility for the controversial half-salary regime and alleged payroll fraud in the state public service.
The dispute followed accusations by the PDP and Accord Party linking the APC governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, popularly known as AMBO, to the era of modulated or half-salary payments to workers in Osun State.
Reacting in a statement issued by its Director of Media and Information, Mogaji Kola Olabisi, the APC berated the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke, accusing it of deliberate historical distortion and political mischief.
The party described the allegation against Oyebamiji as “arrant, thoughtless and misleading,” insisting that he was never involved in the implementation of half salaries in the state.
According to the APC, the acknowledged architect of the modulated salary regime was Mr. Wale Bolorunduro, a former Commissioner for Finance under the administration of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola and currently an economic adviser to Governor Adeleke.
“It is a matter of public record that Bolorunduro was the Finance Commissioner when the modulated salary regime commenced. These facts are verifiable and well known to discerning people of Osun State,” the statement said.
The APC further clarified that Oyebamiji served as Managing Director of the Osun State Investment Company Limited (OSICOL) throughout the period the half-salary structure lasted and was only appointed Commissioner for Finance in 2017, at the tail end of the Aregbesola administration.
The party credited Oyebamiji with stabilising the state’s finances and restoring full salary payments to workers before the expiration of that administration, describing him as instrumental in ending the half-salary regime.
“At no time was Oyebamiji involved in modulated salary payments. Rather, he played a decisive role in returning Osun State to full salary payments and economic stability,” the APC stated.
The APC also accused the Adeleke administration of incompetence, lack of vision, and failure across critical sectors, particularly youth development, alleging that the Ministry of Youth has been crippled by corruption, nepotism, and political vendetta.
Osun Government Fires Back
In a sharp rebuttal, the Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. Kolapo Alimi, accused APC operatives of hypocrisy and selective amnesia over the payroll audit controversy.
Alimi argued that allegations of payroll fraud and cover-up were baseless, insisting that the staff audit was initiated by the Adeleke administration to clean up an inherited and inflated personnel structure.
According to him, Sally Tibbot Consulting was engaged in early 2023, several months after Governor Adeleke assumed office in November 2022, and at a time when no recruitment had taken place in the Osun public service.
“In effect, all personnel records audited by Sally Tibbot were inherited from the Oyetola administration, during which Bola Oyebamiji served as Commissioner for Finance,” Alimi said.
He further noted that Chams Plc, the firm managing the state payroll system, was also inherited from the APC-led Oyetola administration and retained by the Adeleke government through 2024.
By implication, he argued, both the personnel structure and payroll management system were established by the APC government over a 12-year period.
“If there is any payroll fraud in the Osun public service, it was inherited from the APC administration. That corruption was institutionalised under their watch,” Alimi maintained.
The commissioner explained that the decision to conduct a staff audit was based on insider reports of an inflated personnel list. However, he alleged that Sally Tibbot later adopted an unorthodox and self-serving approach, including excessive compensation demands tied to the number of alleged ghost workers identified.
This development, he said, triggered the constitution of a review panel, which uncovered an attempted fraud against the state.
Alimi added that workers wrongly declared as ghost workers are preparing legal action against Sally Tibbot for defamation, noting that entire categories of workers, including staff of tertiary institutions, were allegedly listed as non-existent.
Political Tension Ahead of 2026 Polls
As political tension heightens ahead of the August 8, 2026 governorship election, both camps remain locked in a battle of narratives over governance, accountability, and responsibility for past policies.
While the APC insists that Governor Adeleke’s administration has failed and will be voted out, the PDP and Accord Party maintain that the current government is cleaning up systemic rot inherited from years of APC rule.
