N5.6bn scam: Retirees besiege court as EFCC arraigns fraudsters

Hundreds of Oyo State local government retirees trooped to the state High Court on Thursday as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arraigned a former Head of Service in the state, Iyabo Adeleke, and 11 other suspected accomplices over the N5.6bn local government pension fund scam.

The retirees, who arrived at the court by 8am, displayed placards and cried out for justice. They claimed that their gratuities had not been paid, while the state government also owed them eight month pension allowance.

One of the retirees, Comfort Obani, told our correspondent that her standard of living had dropped because of the government’s inability to pay her pension and gratuity since 2010.

“I retired as head teacher at St. Michael’s Primary School Agodi, Ibadan. I have not been paid my gratuity since 2010 when I disengaged from government’s service and there is a backlog of eight months pension that have yet to be paid. What we are expecting now is the pension for March.

“We are suffering because some people embezzled our pension fund. Only a wicked person will do that. We laboured for 35 years but some people took what belongs to us,” she said.

Sheu Yusuf retired from Are-Ago Primary School in Ogbomoso North Local Government Area in 2010. He said he had to wait for 20 months before his name was enlisted in the pension’s office.

“I waited for 20 months before I was included in the pension’s pay roll. I am now being owed eight months. We were told that some people embezzled the pension fund and we are happy that they were arrested and are being prosecuted by EFCC,” he said.

Yusuf urged the state government not to wait until the suspects paid back what they allegedly stole before paying retirees what they deserve.

“We know that the government may not be able to take back all the money from them and that is why we are begging Governor Abiola Ajimobi to help us find another means of paying retirees’ pension and gratuity. A lot of us are sick and live on medication.  Without money to take care of our health, we will die,” he said.

Meanwhile, the HOS and the other suspects -Muili Aderemi, Iyabo Giwa, Adesina Ayoade, Banji Oguntayo, Adebiyi Olasumbo, Muili Adedamola, Adeduntan Johnson, Johnson Bosede, Kareem Rasheed, Olujimi Adebayo and Adewale Kehinde -were arraigned on 213 counts of conspiracy to obtain money by false pretence, forgery and stealing of pension fund.

One of the instances put forward before Justice Bolaji Yusuf by the EFCC counsel, Gbolahan Latona, was that the accused persons on or before September 29, 2010, in Ibadan, within the jurisdiction of the court conspired to obtain money by false pretence from Oyo State Local Government Staff Pension Board Account at Finbank, now FCMB.

EFCC alleged that the N5.6bn was withdrawn by the accused persons from the account through various banks in small amounts ranging from N8.7m to N138m between September 2010 and March 2011.

The amount was alleged to have been collected on the pretence that it was meant for the payment of gratuity of various pensioners in the state who were teachers.

One of the accused persons, Banji, a former internal auditor at the pension board, was alleged to have collected N46.2m between October and December 2010, while Rasheed was alleged to have stolen N35.5m within the same period.

EFCC also alleged that Ayoade stole N138.6m from the pension treasury between September 2010 and March 2011.

The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges.