Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has formally dismissed calls from the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the resignation of his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Kazeem Akinleye, following a controversy over an alleged ₦13.7 billion payroll fraud.
The political standoff reached a boiling point on Saturday, February 28, 2026, after the APC accused Akinleye of involvement in a scheme to protect "ghost workers" discovered during a statewide staff audit.
Governor Adeleke, speaking through his spokesperson Olawale Rasheed, described the APC’s demands as "melancholic tantrums" born out of "political depression". The Governor maintained that the chief of staff acted as a "strong gatekeeper" who prevented the consulting firm from defrauding the state. The administration argues that the firm's report was riddled with errors and designed to claim inflated consultancy fees by falsely flagging legitimate civil servants as ghost workers.
"Hon. Akinleye is an efficient Chief of Staff whose competence is validated by the impressive performance of this administration," Rasheed stated. "No amount of blackmail will dent the reputation of integrity and service he has built over the years."