Cooperative of Fraud

Two principal staff of Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu are accused of embezzlement of over N100 million belonging to the Institute’s Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society Limited.

Engineer Sam Eze and P.B Nkeanyadi, both senior staff of Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu are currently in a mess over their alleged mismanagement of funds of the school’s Cooperative Society entrusted in their care. (Photo shows Professor Edwin Onyeneje)

While Eze is a Senior Lecturer in the Engineering Department, Nkeanyadi is Principal Assistant Registrar (Exams/Records).
The alleged embezzled funds, amounting to N110.7 Million, belong to the Institute’s Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society Limited. Eze and Nkeanyadi, both elected President and Secretary of the Cooperative 10 years ago, had, for inexplicable reasons, chosen to sit tight in office without giving any account of stewardship to their members. At least, that was the widespread accusation against them.

One of the petitions to IMT Rector, Professor Edwin Onyeneje, dated November 17, 2008, and entitled: ‘Re: Mismanagement of IMT Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Limited Fund: Appeal for Intervention’, tabulated the alleged mismanaged funds as follows: January 2004 to December 2004: N8163483.27; January 2005 to December 2005: N16114560.11; January 2006 to December 2006: N32552055.85; January 2007 to December 2007: N31303891.68 and January 2008 to August 31, 2008: N22608921.08. The total sum comes to N110, 742, 911, 99.

The petition did highlight that these figures excluded investments which Eze and Nkeanyadi might have gone into with other banks without due process, or the consent of members, adding: ‘Recently, these two officials went ahead to release some loans to members (some ‘dud cheques’) without the consent of the management committee and in total disregard to an earlier resolution on that held on March 5, 2008…’

This particular petition which was, ironically, signed by some of the officials of the Co-operative Society, including Bob Igwe (Vice President); Goddy Ozoagu (Assistant Secretary); Alphonsus Nwodo (Ag. Treasurer), as well as Chris O. Ani and Chinwe Ayogu (Executive Members respectively), faulted the claims of Eze and Nkeanyadi to the effect that the society neither has any credit balance in any bank nor physical asset elsewhere.

Contrary to the claims of the duo, the petitioners maintained that members of the Cooperative Society ‘who took loan from the society pay interest as high as 15% on borrowed amount’.
‘Prior to now, our bankers used to be the Union Bank Plc, but these two officers (Eze and Nkeanyadi) unilaterally operate from one bank to the other as evidenced in Zenith Bank cheques which they were issuing to the innocent contributors who were desperate to secure loan at cut throat interest. This action was done without consultations to neither the management committee of the society nor the general house of the society’, the angry petitioners blurted.

The aggrieved members of the society, in the petition, therefore, asked the sit tight President and Secretary to call a general meeting, at least, for the first time to address the issues raised. They, also, called for an account of the contributions from members and accrued interest from the loan and fixed deposits for the period of 10 years, that is, 120 months.

Also, in an earlier petition, dated October 16, 2008, the restive Co-operative Society members appealed to Rector Onyeneje ‘to direct the Bursar to stop further release of Cooperative Society Fund to Engineer Eze and P.B Nkeanyadi until a general meeting of the society is called when the issue should be addressed’. Part of their appeal to the Rector was to institute a committee to investigate the activities of the Cooperative Society of IMT for the past 10 years (1998 to 2008), with a view to determining the level of fraudulent activities of this society and find the best ways to administer the scheme in future.

It seems that these appeals from the Institute’s Co-operative Society fell on the deaf ears of Rector Onyeneje as, according to them, there had not been intervention of any sort from him. As it were, Insider Weekly could not reach out to Onyeneje to elicit his reaction over the Co-operative fraud scandals raging in his academic domain.

But in his own reaction, Engineer Eze, the embattled President, told the magazine through a telephone conversation that the matter had, since December last year, been under investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for allegedly embezzling N17 million.

Eze explained that he and his co-accused had been guests of ICPC December 1 and 2 of 2009, as well as March 11 and 12, 2010 before being released on bail amidst on-going investigation. Eze wondered why his traducers have resolved to embark on publicizing the matter while still under investigation.

Part of Eze’s defense was that his executive had handed over to a new President. Incidentally, Eze could not readily remember the name of the new President he handed over to when prodded further by the magazine.

On why his regime spent 10 years in office, and why he was not calling meetings, he retorted that the matter is already before the ICPC.

Although ICPC is still investigating the rot in the Institute’s Co-operative Society, it is believed that this is morning yet on the embezzlement drama in IMT. For instance, one of the aggrieved officials of the Society confided in this magazine that he and his colleagues were all goaded into signing the cheques for the talked-about N110.7 million only for the money to be paid into an account yet to be revealed to them.

In fact, questions on the lips of members of the academic community are: Which bank was the money paid into? Who were the signatories? And if the ICPC started investigating the matter since December last year, why hasn’t the crimes commission come up with a preliminary report on the alleged fraud?

Where is Rector Onyeneje in all these? Why has he seemingly chosen to shut up his ears to the cries and appeals of these hapless Co-operative members of his institution? Or, is the Rector not aware that about eight of these society members, who are, of course, his staff, have died out of starvation, hunger and frustration?

For now, the story is still unfolding.