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Tag: N1.5b

  • We didn’t mismanage N1.5b’

    We didn’t mismanage N1.5b’

    Immediate past chairman of AOCOED Governing Council Prince Abiodun Ogunleye is contesting the claim that N1.5 billion was ‘mismanaged’ under him. In this interview with ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA, the former deputy governor maintains his innocence 

    You were the chairman of Council when AOCOED management was accused of mismanaging N1.5 billion. Do you  agree that such amount was mismanaged?

    I am not sufficiently convinced! To start with, I am an accountant. So, if there are allegations of mismanagement up to N1.5 billion, I should have been given the details in naira and kobo. The new Council said it carried out an investigation between January 2010 and December 2014. I came in as a member of council in 2012 and became the chairman  between June 2014 and June 2015.When I was there, I pushed for grants from the government but we were not successful

    Were you aware of unions alleging mismanagement of funds when you were council chairman?

    I had the opportunity of meeting the governor (Ambode) one day and he called his deputy who is in charge of education. It was then I started hearing the word mismanagement and I sought to know if that actually happened during my tenure. As an accountant, I’d checked all their figures to see if anything funny was happening but the figures correlated; so, I had no cause to say I want to investigate the day-to-day activities of the college. It is not my job! I believe that in my capacity as a father to all, my role is to seek ways to get them out of the poor financial state.

    During your tenure, what was your greatest challenge?

    It was inadequate funding! Interestingly, this had been there even before Mrs (Adefemi) Taire’s (the chairman of AOCOED Governing Council 10 years ago) period. From my point of view, part of the problem was management’s funding of AOCOED Staff School and AOCOED International School. We wanted to diharmonise the schools because of the personnel cost which ran into about N60 million. That was quite very heavy then; but the unions kicked against it. They said their staff in the two schools should be absorbed into the mainstream. I remember the previous management invited NCCE (National Council for Colleges of Education) to look into that area. They came and made recommendations but before we could start to look into the document, the unions began demonstration and locked up the school.

    Prof Samuel said his council only ratified the recommendations of your council on the allegations of rape, plagiarism, among others.

    That is not true! The rape allegation you are talking about started in my time, though. The person in question was referred to the disciplinary committee of the council. Shortly after, the council was dissolved by the government. We did not take any decision.

    Could you give us a background?

    The investigation was headed by Prof (Florence Ajike) Osanyin, who was a member of council and head of the disciplinary committee. When I read what Prof Samuel said in your paper, that it was the council under me that made the recommendations, I called Prof Osanyin who was then on her way to the airport. She said she didn’t know when my council took that decision.

    However, I was made to know that the matter resurfaced when the new council headed by Prof Samuel came on board and the recommendation was that that lecturer who committed the act should be dismissed. I do not know how the dismissal later changed to demotion; all I know was that Prof Osanyin headed the disciplinary committee when I was chairman of council, and she still holds the same position under Prof Samuel.

    Do you suspect any foul play or witch-hunt as some of those relieved of their jobs alleged?

    I don’t know. That’s up to the council. But for me, I wouldn’t just decide to put anybody in problem. That’s why I properly investigate whatever comes my way before taking decisions. Prof Samuel himself once informed me that these principal officers initially walked out of the committee set up to investigate them. I then called the former provost and others and asked them why. They all came here and said they put the two leaders of the unions that made the allegations as members of the committee. I want to say this is wrong because these were the accusers. If somebody is an accuser, he can only be a witness and not part of the judge. So, if you are talking of witch-hunting, I think the present council has allowed that.

    Some of them also faulted the LASU Audit Committee, that it was an aberration

    I’m not too conversant with the government’s regulation but I don’t think it is right. I think that was why the unions raised allegations of mismanagement two years ago, and (former) Governor (Babtunde) Fashola raised an audit committee to investigate the financial activities of the college.

    But the unions said that report was not in the public domain.

    (cuts in) I have managed to get a copy.

    But, can I have access to it?

    For some reasons, I won’t make it available to you yet.

    But there are rumours that the report indicted the immediate past management.

    I want to say those who carried out the audit did a very good job. The documents revealed some administrative lapses but nothing close to N1.5 billion as is being bandied in the media. When I was chairman of council, we used to have our quarterly meetings where the financial statement of the college would be presented to us. Even before I became the chairman, I started asking questions about the figures in which I was given a breakdown. So, I could check figures from one place to the other without any contradiction.

    In all, do you think the unions have helped matters?

    With all due respect to the unions, I do not think we need to overheat the system, if genuinely, we want to help it!There was a time MOCPED (Michael Otedola College of Primary Education, Epe), applied for a bailout, and almost the same time AOCOED also applied; but because the unions were calling the management thieves, the government released money for MOCPED and withdrew ours. I was not yet the chairman of council, but I called the unions and asked them why they were accusing the management when they were not sure and they couldn’t give me any answer.

  • N1.5b cash scandal rocks College of Education

    N1.5b cash scandal rocks College of Education

    Some top workers at Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED) Oto/Ijanikin, Lagos have been sent on compulsory leave by the Governing Council following allegations of financial recklessness. The workers are divided over the matter.  Some are alleging “witch hunt”; while others believe the council is treading the right path. ADEGUNLE OLUGBAMILA reports.  

    A N1.5billion cash scandal is rocking the Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED) in Oto/Ijanikin. Some principal officers have been sent on compulsory leave over the case by Governing Council chairman, Prof Tunde Samuel. They are alleged to have misappropriated N1.5billion.

    Those sent on leave are former Provost, Mr Bashorun Olalekan, who handed over last August, former Registrar, Mrs Bola Disu; Bursar, Mr Fatai Ipaye, Internal Auditor Mr Eluwande Nathaniel, and Bashorun’s Personal Assistant, Mr Mojeed Babatunde.

    The incumbent Registrar, Olumuyiwa Coker, and the bursar, Babatunde Oyewolu, were also sent on compulsory leave for their roles in the case.

    But workers are complaining about how the matter is being investigated.  Some are alleging that it is a  witch hunt of those involved. They disagreed with the inclusion of union members on the investigative panel set up by Prof Samuel.

    It all started in October 2014 when the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), the College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU); and the Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education in Nigeria (SSUCOEN) embarked on strike over the alleged non-remittance of pension arrears and cooperative contributions, misappropriation of funds, and lack of transparency.

    COEASU and SSUCOEN claimed that the Bashorun administration collected up to N1.5 billion yearly from the deductions with nothing to show for in the college’s development.  The unions appealed to the then Babatunde Fashola administration to investigate the allegation. In December, the former Fashola administration commissioned an audit committee that investigated the institution’s books.  But its report was not published.

    The matter resurfaced when Samuel became council chairman last September.  Following a petition by the unions, Samuel constituted a panel which included some COEASU and SSUCOEN executives.

    But NASU faulted their inclusion in the panel because they were the petitioners.  The workers were enraged that Samuel published some of the panel’s findings in the media when investigations had not been concluded.

    NASU Chairman, Comrade Femi Adebayo said the manner the panel went about the investigation was suspicious.

    “As the leader of NASU in AOCOED I was a part of all the meetings which held at the College and Alausa. But when it got to the final stage that the secretary of the panel was to collate all findings, I was not invited. The report was hijacked due to personal hatred. Even the secretary of that panel was sidelined. Let them produce the document and you will see that my signature was not there.

    “Although we discovered some irregularities that could be corrected, I made them to understand that no administration is perfect. But I realised there is a hidden agenda which the council is yet to inform us about.”

    Another source said: “The council  itself needs to be questioned. We are saying the College is broke yet the council since its inauguration in September has been sitting and collecting allowance. I learnt the council is organising a three-day retreat this week and will be using a prominent hotel in FESTAC. So who is deceiving who?”

    However, Samuel, in a phone chat, described those alleging witch hunt as “mischievous.”

    He said: “Some people have gone behind to say I am witch hunting them and I find that statement annoying. Is it a lie that somebody collected so-so amount? When you talk of witch hunting, that is when that thing cannot be put in the verifiability theory of meaning which says what cannot be seen cannot be said either. So those saying witch-hunt are mischievous.  What will council make from that?”

    Samuel added: “Some of these people shouting witch hunting have gone to town using some heavyweights to appeal to me. So I wonder why they are then begging me to forgive them if they are actually being witch hunted.  When I came on board, some members of council informed me of the existence of a cabal, and those shouting witch hunt belong to the cabal. I did not buy into this initially. At a point, the unions also wrote me that they were losing confidence in the council, so I had to act. Council ought to have acted long before now but we did not.”

    Chairmen of COEASU and SSUCOEN, Michael Avosentiyen and Wunmi Ombugadu debunked the claim of witch hunt, saying people should look at the allegations before casting aspersions on them. They denied being close to the council chairman.

    “I have never been to the council chairman’s house; I don’t even know the way to his house,” Ombugadu said.

    Avosetinyen said the panel’s findings have justified the unions’ agitations against the past management in the last three years.

    He said: “It has vindicated our unions.  I once accused the immediate past Special Adviser on Education that he was aiding and abetting the former management team because of what he was getting from them, otherwise how can we present an issue before you six times and you failed to act?

    “That statement that we are close to the council chairman is insulting and derogatory. It is as if saying the Governing Council chairman does not know what he was doing.

    “The question is: ‘Did those asked to proceed on compulsory leave do what they were accused of?’  For me, I can go to anywhere, and you need not read meanings into my movement. Forget personal issues and let’s address issues on ground. I don’t know where they got their information from.”

    Two of those sent on leave, who pleaded not to be named, described the panel as a sham.  They claimed that they were not invited by the panel for clarifications before the council queried them and asked them to proceed on leave.

    One of them said: “The council gave me a query that I should provide receipts for two conferences I attended in 2014. Although they (council) did not specify which of the conferences, I attached in my responses, all documents of the conferences I attended and submitted, only to be asked to proceed on compulsory leave. So, if I had fulfilled what the council requested of me, ask them why the suspension?”

    “We were not surprised at the outcome of the panel,” said the other. “How could you bring in the petitioners to be part of those to investigate us. Can you be the complainant and the judge at the same time?”

    Samuel promised that the investigation would be fair.

    “I can assure you that we (council) will go the whole hog. We cannot just indict anybody without establishing fact. It is not possible,” he said.

    The Government and AOCOED management on Monday appealed to the parties to  sheathe their swords and work for the institution’s progress.

    Speaking on the crisis, Mr Obafela Bank-Olemoh, Special Aassistant to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Education, told our reporter on phone that the council has the government’s backing provided it does what is right.

    “The Governing Council has the full backing of government to do its investigation and take necessary action. Anybody that  is found guilty should be made to face the music. This government is committed to probity. Do not forget that the governor is a former Accountant-General of Lagos State who is also passionate about prudence. But we also want due process since those complained about are still under investigation,” Bank-Olemoh said.

    On the institution’s complaints of underfunding, Bank-Olemoh said there would be a raise in its subventions from next month.

    “Government has decided that as from May, monthly subventions of all our institutions would be increased so that they can now use their Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) to meet other liabilities.

    “As government, we shall, through monitoring, ensure that the IGR is judiciously used.  All the unions and other stakeholders will be involved in the monitoring and inform us in case anything goes wrong.”

  • Resort Savings gets N1.5b mortgage

    Resort Savings and Loans Plc has secured about N1.5 billion in new mortgages from the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) as the mortgage banker seeks to grow its nationwide housing portfolio.

    Managing director, Resort Savings and Loans Plc, Mr. Abimbola Olayinka, in his latest operational review, said the approval of N1.5 billion mortgages was secured last month for more than 125 beneficiaries under National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme.

    According to him, the recent approval of N1.5 billion should encourage other Nigerians who are yet to apply for National Housing Fund to act immediately as the scheme gives them the opportunity to affordable housing plan.

    He outlined that that the mortgage bank has been able to bridge the gap in the housing deficit nationwide by creating more than 4,000 housing units while it plans to improve on this target with the recent approval of N1.5 billion from the FMBN.

    He added that in order to strengthen the company’s market position in providing affordable housing in the country, Resort Savings is partnering with a host of developers in either financing their projects or providing mortgage facilities to their off-takers at affordable interest rates.

    He noted that the company’s widespread of branch network has enabled it to be able to reach its teeming customers in need of affordable mortgage.

    Olayinka said the company is expecting approval for more than 5,000 applicants using the National Housing Fund and Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company within 2015.

    Meanwhile, Olayinka congratulated the newly appointed board members of FMBN under the chairmanship of Chief Bisi Ogunjobi.

     

  • Lagos retirees get N1.5b today

    To ensure that workers in Lagos State have a better and fulfilling life after retirement, its government will today pay another set of 234 retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), a sum of N1.547 billion, Director-General, Lagos State Pension Commission, Rotimi Adekunle Hussain, has said.

    According to him, the payment is to be made for their past service prior to the commencement of the CPS in 2007 in the state.

    Hussain, who made this known to reporters, said the retirees would be receiving their retirement benefits during the 15th Retirement Bond Certificates presentation, which held yesterday at the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) auditorium in Lagos.

    He added that today’s ceremony is coming up in a space of one month after the 14th presentation that held in November.

    The LASPEC boss recalled that as at the 14th Bond Certificates presentation held in November this year, a total of 5,530 retirees had been paid a total sum of N28.93 billion.

    He stressed that Governor Babatunde Fashola’s administration, has since the adoption of the CPS in 2007, taken it as a duty and utmost importance to always organise the ceremony to present the retirees with their retirement benefits.

    He said the retirees are presently enjoying their retirement benefits under the scheme without any rancor or stress, noting that this is in a clear affirmation of the state’s commitment to the welfare of its workforce.

  • FUG Pension capital base hits N1.5b

    Future Unity Glanvills Pensions Limited (FUG), a pension fund administrator’s paid up capital  stands at N1.5 billion, a leap above the statutorily minimum requirement of N1 billion, its Managing Director, Usman Suleiman has said.

    Giving an update on the activities of the company since 2007 at a press briefing in Lagos he said the firm will take advantage of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014,  especially in the areas of transfer window, when it is opened, and the integration of the informal sector into the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) to deepen penetration and grow its market share.

    He said the firm also plans to leverage on the law  to produce competitive investment returns and better service for customers which include employees, retirees and other stakeholders.

    He said the pension industry has moved from a huge and unsustainable liability at inception in 2004 to accumulate asset of over N4 trillion within a short span of ten years. According to him,  in spite of the challenging business terrain occasioned by persistent noncompliance by the states, the private sector and the general economic disincentives and lack of enabling environment, the board and management are not deterred.

    He promised to leave no stone unturned in the bid to guarantee a brighter future for all stake holders.  Besides he said  management has put in place appropriate strategic plans aimed at continuously growing the company.

    He said: “As the industry moves to the next phase following the repeal of the PRA 2004 and enactment of PRA 2014, we assure all our stakeholders and indeed all Nigerian employees and retirees that we are poised to move into that phase in a strong and well-focused manner.

    “Our vision which forms the foundation of the promise and commitment we have made of a brighter future to all our stakeholders is to produce competitive investment returns for our clients, by employing world class management expertise and deploying cutting edge technology to the benefit of all stakeholders.

    “This and it not only put us in a good standing to compete and provide best of service but also give our clients the comfort of knowing that they have their RSA and other funds in a solid institution.”

    Suleiman said management  has positioned the company to contribute significantly to the overall industry achievement adding that it has over the last seven years been providing excellent and constantly improving service to our numerous customers across the country.

    He said the company was able to achieve growth despite being among the last set of PFAs to be licensed by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to carry out the business of Pension Fund Administration (PFA). According to him, the firm commenced full operational and investment activities by September of same year and have since then grown to be one of the leading PFAs in the country.