Investigate Lagos NUJ Housing Scam – Duped Journalists Ask EFCC
A passionate appeal has gone to the new acting chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mohammed Umar to investigate the scam surrounding a housing project initiated by the outgoing National President of Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Ifeyinwa Omowole.
In a petition signed by Jiti Ogunye, the counsel to Lagos Council of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), on behalf of aggrieved subscribers to the moribund NUJ/NAWOJ Housing project in Mowe/Ofada area of Ogun State, the subscribers called on the new acting chairman to ensure that they get back their hard-earned money from those concerned.
This is the second petition written by the aggrieved journalists to the EFCC to help recover their investments in the failed project.
Documents attached with the petition showed how Ifeyinwa Omowole unilaterally withdrew the sum of Two Hundred and Twenty-Seven Thousand dollars from the domiciliary UBA account of the association and changed the dollars to naira without the approval of all subscribers and executive members.
Ogunye said, “Close to six years now, no houses built, no money refunded. A local company, PRIMEWATER VIEWS HOLDINGS, headed by Tunji Ogunwusi, Ooni of Ife’s brother was also involved.
“Ogunwusi owns up to still having some of the millions of Journalists’ money with him. And claimed he used the money to import plumbing and electrical materials.
“We will be glad if justice is done in this matter in order for the aggrieved Subscribers to get the correct values of their money back.”
“The affected journalists also alleged that there is another set of smaller denominations of about twenty eight thousand dollars not collected by the bank which can’t be accounted for.
“Apart from the dollars contributed by Journalists, we also paid additional money in naira close to thirty million naira.”
The counsel further said the fraud started with the changing of dollars to naira.
Omowole and the immediate past National Treasurer of NAWOJ, Tosin Odusola were alleged to have made huge withdrawals from the domiciliary and local accounts of NAWOJ without any due process, knowledge and consent of subscribers.
The affected victims of the scam housing project, therefore, called on the new EFCC chairman to do the needful.
“There are series of documents to show that Omowole, at one time, unilaterally withdrew a whopping sum of $227,000 dollars with Tosin Odusola co-signing as a signatory without the knowledge or authorisation of Subscribers.”
“Also, Odusola signed for the collection of almost $28, 000 dollars without accounting for all the money.
“To further worsen the situation, Ifeyinwa Omowole exchanged the dollars to naira without any authorisation, thereby making a personal profit of about N30,000,000 (thirty million naira) on the rates she used at the time.
“There was an obvious breach of the obligations under the contract by the Managing Director of Primewaterview Holdings Nigeria Ltd after a whopping sum of N70,000,000 (Seventy Million Naira) had been purportedly paid to the company and yet there was nothing to show for it.
“Since we have a new acting chairman, EFCC, affected Journalists thereby asked NUJ/NAWOJ for refund of all the dollars and excess profit made on the unauthorized exchange of the dollars and naira paid,” Ogunye stated.
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