Although animal manures have for years been used to amend the C: N ratios of lignocellulosic wastes to hasten the composting process, their efficiencies in comparison to commercial microbial inoculants are hitherto undocumented. This study purposed to compare the efficacies of a commercial microbial inoculant and poultry litter in composting organic wastes with high C: N ratios such as maize stovers. The experiment was laid in a completely randomised design (CRD) with four treatments and these were; stovers + poultry litter (S.P), stovers + Bio–soils compost+ (S.B), Stovers + Poultry litter + Bio–soils compost+ (S.P.B) and stovers alone (S). Bio–soils compost+ was the commercial microbial inoculant used in this study. Each treatment was replicated thrice. Composting materials were randomly picked weekly for the laboratory analysis of pH, ammonium and nitrate nitrogen, water–soluble carbon (WSC), Carbon–dioxide evolution rate, nitrogen (TN), phosphorus (P), total organic carbon (TOC) and potassium (K). The data obtained were analysed for variance and compared with compost maturity and stability indices already established by various former studies. Stovers composted with a combination of poultry litter and Bio–soils compost+ did mature not only the earliest but also had the highest nutrient value. There were no noticeable differences in the composting rates of poultry litter and Bio–soils compost+ as stovers composted with either of them matured and stabilised almost at the same time. Additionally, stovers composted with poultry litter had higher nutrient compositions of NPK. Therefore, in cases where animal manures like poultry litter can be readily or cheaply accessed, purchasing commercial inoculants is not necessary but in cases where animal manures are not readily available, the microbial inoculants are a viable option.