Some retired members of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) cooperative society in Lagos State have alleged misappropriation of their funds by the management committee.
The members, who spoke at a media briefing in Abuja, claimed they had not accessed their monies for up to 10 years after retirement.
Elder Ante Ante, the Leader of the Group and an NNPC Ltd. retiree, said, “For up to 10 years, we have not received the normal dividend from this cooperative and yet, people have been and are still contributing on a monthly basis.”
He alleged that the cooperative society’s funds were being used without accountability, and that those who ran the society treated the funds as “free money”.
Ante also claimed that the cooperative society declared N96 million as surplus in 2021 but recorded a loss of N806 million by 2022.
He called for a forensic audit of the NNPC Ltd. Lagos State cooperative account for transparency, justice, and accountability.
Other members of the group, including Mr Odey Ochicha and Mr Bob Manuel, corroborated the allegations, saying they had not received their contributions and dividends.
Ochicha claimed that over N10 million of his contributions was yet to be accounted for, while Manuel said he had not accessed his over N15 million since his retirement in 2020.
The group appealed to the management of NNPC Limited and the Lagos State Government to work with them to resolve the issue and ensure transparency and accountability in the management of the cooperative society’s funds.
They also alleged that the current Caretaker Committee of the Lagos State Chapter of the cooperative society was constituted illegally without due process.
