Adebowale Adekola, the Osun TUC Chairman, has requested that the state government postpone the planned personnel audit of the state civil officials.
This comes after a proposed staff audit exercise for 2023, for which forms are currently being distributed among state government officials.
To conduct the 2023 staff audit, the Osun State Government hired a consultant from Sally Tibbot Consulting, an audit company.
“The Head of Service informed Osun workers that there may likely be a personnel audit,” Adebowale said in a press conference on Friday. There is no formality to it.
“We must receive formal notice. Osun employees should have a place to meet with the audit’s conductor.
We don’t mind being audited, but we need to be properly informed and guided.
The state’s civil officials, according to Adebowale, want to meet the experts but are not opposed to any government policies.
The workers have not recovered from the most recent exercise carried out by the Rauf Aregbesola administration in 2015, he further stated.
Adebowale argued that Osun has qualified and certified auditors in the system who can perform the audit properly while arguing that it is part of the Auditor-General of Osun State’s job.
“We have government agencies that can provide the government with whatever they require, but if they are not satisfied and want to contract it out, there is no issue with that, as long as they follow due process.”
In the meantime, the state administration has allayed labor leaders’ concerns regarding the ongoing staff audit.
The government has made it clear that there are no witch hunts or plans to fire state employees as a result of the exercise.
In a statement released by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, Governor Ademola Adeleke stated that he has taken note of the labor leaders’ concerns and has ordered a review of the raised issues.
“You are aware that the governor’s plan includes worker welfare as its first item.
The major objective is to secure the welfare of both public sector employees and non-public sector employees because it is believed that this is the most effective way to revive the local economy and guarantee everyone in Osun’s prosperity.
“One of the measures being adopted is the staff audit question, which is actually not a labor-hating policy, but is instead intended to assist the public services and make sure that workers are properly taken care of.
In order to ensure that the personnel on the payroll are properly aligned and placed, the payroll system needs to be strengthened.
