The Akwa Ibom State Government has moved swiftly to denounce an explosive report by SaharaReporters that accused Governor Umo Eno of ordering a compulsory 15 per cent tithe deduction from the salaries of political appointees.
The state describes the story as malicious and misleading and says the document relied on by SaharaReporters relates to ordinary statutory remittances not church levies.
SaharaReporters published payslips and a screenshot of a remittance form and quoted an anonymous appointee who alleged that from 2023 until May 2025 payments showed a monthly N46,000 deduction from a N350,000 appointment net.
The story then said an alleged June 2025 increase to N500,000 net still left an unexplained N75,000 monthly deduction labelled tithe.
The site also ran a claim that Governor Eno has 5,000 personal assistants and that a 15 per cent levy on that number would yield N375 million monthly or about N4.5 billion a year.
The government has countered on two fronts. First it insists the document in question applies to certain categories of governor aides whose gross pay ranges from N200,000 to N1,432,000 and that a full personal assistant to the governor does not receive less than N1,000,000 in salary and allowances.
Second the government says the deduction visible on the remittance is a statutory tax and not a tithe and it challenges anyone to show evidence of any remittance of such funds for religious purposes since Governor Eno assumed office.
The denial was issued through the Commissioner for Information Rt Hon Aniekan Umanah.
Two basic questions emerge that an investigative reporter must press on. First is the factual question about what the payslips and bank alerts actually show and whether those documents can be independently verified against payroll ledgers.
Second is the legal question about whether an employer can lawfully make non statutory deductions from a worker’s salary and if so under what authority.
On the first point the SaharaReporters package includes samples and testimony. But the publication relies heavily on anonymous sourcing and uncorroborated arithmetic about the alleged 5,000 PAs.
The figure if true would be staggering. A 15 per cent levy of N75,000 on 5,000 staff produces N375,000,000 in one month and N4,500,000,000 in a year.
That single calculation is simple yet consequential and it demands documentary payroll proof and bank remittance trails.
On the legal question Nigerian labour law draws a clear line. Deductions from wages are lawful only where the deduction is authorised by statute or where the worker has given clear consent or where there is a lawful court order or where loss to the employer is proven and sanctioned by a labour officer.
Ordinary payroll practice permits statutory deductions such as PAYE tax, pension contributions, National Housing Fund remittances and approved union dues.
Anything outside those categories is prima facie unlawful and has in past cases led to orders for restitution. Legal commentaries and statutory guides make that point emphatically.
What this episode exposes is a clash between competing narratives and the absence so far of independently verifiable payroll records.
The government has said the deduction is a tax and that it will investigate the matter and take legal steps against purveyors of fake news. SaharaReporters has stood by its exclusive and published the payslips it says support the story.
As a matter of public interest the burden now lies with the state to publish a reconciled payroll ledger or permit an independent audit. Transparency here would be decisive.
For media ethics and public accountability there are immediate demands. First, newsrooms must publish original documents and clear provenance for explosive claims and where anonymity is used editors should explain why.
Second, governments must make payroll policy transparent for political appointees and provide citizens with verifiable summaries of deductions and remittances.
Third, labour regulators must issue urgent guidance on what constitutes lawful payroll deduction in the public service and whether special categories of political appointees fall within those rules.
What to watch next. If the Akwa Ibom government confirms the remittance as statutory PAYE or other recognised levy it should release audited proof of remittance to the appropriate revenue authority.
If the government cannot produce such proof the matter becomes not only one of reputational damage but a potential labour and criminal inquiry.
Conversely if SaharaReporters can produce bank to bank remittance trails showing funds leaving government coffers and landing with third parties for religious use then criminal and fraud allegations will be unavoidable.
This story is not settled. It raises questions about power, faith and money in a state where a pastor is governor and where transparency in payroll is as important as any budget line.
For now the responsible course is an independent forensic audit of the payroll and public publication of its conclusions. The people of Akwa Ibom deserve no less.
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