By Rhapsodi Affos Blog (RAB) Reporter 

Taraba State’s payroll crisis deepened after the Office of the Accountant-General uncovered a N20,399,933.32 overpayment in the July 2025 salary upload, suggesting possible collusion between the Staff Verification Committee chaired by Haruna Abubakar Abdulkadir and the consultant managing the electronic payroll system.

According to the official memo, 21 officers were meant to receive N3,473,866.68, but ended up being paid N23,873,800, leaving an unexplained excess of over N20.3 million. The Accountant-General reported that the salary file submitted for upload appeared “doctored”, indicating deliberate manipulation before it reached final processing.


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The AG’s office stressed that such tampering would require access to both the raw payroll file and the upload platform—access points under the operational oversight of the verification committee and the payroll consultant.

The Abdulkarim-led committee had earlier claimed that an additional overpayment occurred in October 2025, but the Accountant-General dismissed this assertion, clarifying that no such October breach occurred and that the only confirmed manipulation happened in July.

The memo further revealed that the payroll file was already compromised before it was handed to the consultant, raising troubling questions about who altered the figures, who authorized the upload, and who benefited financially from the discrepancy.

Financial analysts say the Accountant-General’s findings represent the strongest evidence yet in the ongoing payroll dispute, describing the N20.3m inflation as “far beyond a clerical mistake” and indicative of intentional tampering. The revelations also cast doubt on several of the committee’s earlier claims, including alleged inconsistencies and inflated figures.

Despite growing public interest, the verification committee’s leadership has remained silent, offering no explanation regarding the altered file, the 21 beneficiaries, or the conflicting October claim. Efforts by Rhapsodi Affos Blog to obtain comments were unsuccessful.

With many civil servants still awaiting clarity on their payment status, the N20.3m breach has intensified concerns about transparency, internal control failures, and potential sabotage within the system. Analysts are calling for a full forensic audit, disclosure of all individuals involved, and a review of the consultant’s role.

As the controversy widens, the July breach may become a defining turning point in the entire verification exercise, with calls for the process to be revisited, restructured, or independently audited if the allegations of manipulation are confirmed.