Financial scandal rocks Head of Service Staff Co-operative

Financial scandal rocks Head of Service Staff Co-operative
 December 14, 2015 at 11:00 am in Business, Finance, News 

By Favour Nnabugwu
Officials of the Cooperative Society of the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation have accused its President of mismanagement and misappropriation of fund. Financial Vanguard investigations revealed that over 1,600 members of the Head of Service Cooperative Society are calling for the intervention of anti-graft authorities to investigate the refusal of the President to relinquish his position 22 months after he retired from the Service.
In a letter addressed to the President, Joint Union Negotiating Council in the office of the Head of Service dated January 5, 2015, the members appealed for intervention in the crisis that has rocked the cooperative since the president, Mr Stephen Esezebor got on aboard. The letter which was duly signed by the 39 members of the cooperative reads, “Permit us to kindly draw the attention of your office to the lingering crisis that has been rocking the operations and general administration of the Cooperative Thrift and Credit Society (CTCS) of the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.
This crisis has assumed an unresolved dimension hence the need for this SOS (Save Our Soul) letter. “Mr. Stephen Esezebor, now a retired civil servant has held sway as the President of the Cooperative for many years while in  active service and was expected to have relinquished power to a successor just before his retirement but blatantly failed to do so,  held onto power unduly thereby aggravating the avoidable crisis that has rocked the boat of the Cooperative hitherto.
“Mr. Stephen Esezebor, not willing to handover the affairs of the Cooperative, and also not willing   to end the crisis, resorted to  legal means as he headed for litigation in the Court of law which we have viewed as just a strategy to undo so many things to his  personal interest. Worst still, is the apprehension that our hard-earned savings in the Cooperative accounts would have been  grossly tampered with. This is obvious as members who applied for loans no longer get them,  those who retired from the service can not access their life- savings.
“The Cooperative society accounts with Ecobank, United Bank for Africa, Diamond Bank and GTBank are still being operated by Mr Stephen Esezebor who retired from the Service in February 2014.
“We undersigned stakeholders and concerned members, on behalf of the entire members of the cooperative therefore considere it imperative for your good office to wade into this crisis that has done nobody any good.”  The Audit Committee of the cooperative had in 2012 written to the Head of Civil Service of the Federation on alleged mismanagement and misappropriation of funds.