Investigation Report: Embezzlement of Funds for Public Administration Department Dinner and Award Night

By NAPADS Press 

Introduction:

On 8th August, 2023, the National Association of Public Administration Students, The Polytechnic, Ibadan chapter was marred by allegations of embezzlement of funds meant for the association’s Dinner and Award Night party. The accused individual is the Social Director of the department, Com. Fakorede Ayomide, who allegedly misappropriated a sum of N1,300,000. This report aims to comprehensively document the investigation process, interviews conducted, and the subsequent actions taken.

Discovery of Funds Embezzlement:

According to the information made known to us, the issue of embezzlement by the Social Director was discovered on 8th August, 2023 which is just a day before the initial date of the event, August 9th, 2023. The discovery was possible after the Social Director was probed and asked to make account of the funds at his disposal including evidence of what he has paid for. 

When the Departmental General Secretary was giving account of the situation, he said "Two days to the event, I was at the hospital taking drips when I called him to ask him how far, he told me that everything is good, that he has paid for hall, awards and everything. But a day to the event, the person in charge of making the awards told me that Socal Director has not given him money for award yet and he won't be able to rush the work. It was at this point that we knew what was going on. Meanwhile, we never had any iota of doubt towards him because he has delivered several times before, which includes our excursion to Ilaji, our Back to School event and the likes."

Alleged Embezzlement and Recovery:

The alleged embezzlement involves a total sum of N1,300,000 meant for the Dinner and Award Night event. However, when the matter was reported to the police, a figure of N857,000 was accounted for, which led to the initial investigation. Over the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the Social Director had used the embezzled funds for sports betting. Subsequently, efforts were made to recover the misappropriated funds, resulting in the recovery of over N400,000 from the Social Director as of the moment of filling this report.

Agreement for Repayment:

The accused Social Director entered into an agreement with the Department's Stakeholders to repay the embezzled funds on a constant basis until he fully repaid the money. Since then, he has been consistently making repayments as part of the arrangement.

"I can't say maybe they would hold his result or not, I am not in the right position to say that. I am not the HOD or the Staff Adviser, but one thing that I am sure of is that nobody would embezzled NAPADS or any association money and go scot free except him/her repay the money. It is not possible for such individual to go scot free without paying back all the money in Public Administration Department", the General Secretary of the department, Com. Olayiwola Azeez Bamidele said regarding the possible punishment awaiting the Social Director. 

Impact on Event:

As earlier noted, the news of the embezzlement broke a day before the scheduled Dinner and Award Night, causing significant disruption and concern among the department members and students across the institution. This led to the postponement of event in order to resolve the issue. The event was subsequently rescheduled to hold on 18th August, 2023, which eventually came with much glamour, glory and success. 

Tracking and Arrest:

The accused Social Director was tracked down and arrested at his mother's shop located at Apete by members of the department with the help of Army Officials. He was later handed over to the Nigeria Police Force, Apete Division to proceed with the investigation and prosecution. The arrest was carried out following thorough investigation and cooperation between members of the department.

"When the case got to Police Station, we asked his family to pay at least N650,000 or N700,000 before Wednesday (initial event day), but they were unable to meet up with that. So we decided to deviate other means to sort out the whole thing. As it is now, he will refund every penny that he embezzled. He will be repaying the money back into the association account and that would be the benefit of the next Administration, that is our conclusion." Com. Olayiwola Azeez Bamidele briefed our correspondent. 

Exclusive Interviews:

1. Department President:

The Department's President, Com. Ude Chinaza Nnenna, provided insights into the situation, recounting how they managed the crisis and ensured the event proceeded as planned despite the embezzlement allegations.

"Initially, we thought the amount that was embezzled was the N857,000 (Eight Hundred and Fifty Seven Thousand Naira Only) that we reported to the police, not until students started coming with proof of payments that they also paid to him for their awards. After we confirmed all the said payment, we later realized that the total money that was looted by the Social Director is N1,300,000 (One Million, Three Hundred Thousand Naira Only)." the President, Com. Ude Chinnaza Nnena (Chichi) disclosed while speaking with the Press. 

As at the time of filing this report, President Chichi said after meeting with his mom, who was able to call and pleaded for his release from Police custody, the alleged perpetuator of the embezzlement act has been able to return N487,000 (Four Hundred and Eighty Seven Thousand Naira Only) out of the supposed N1,300,000 (One Million, Three Hundred Thousand Naira Only). Hence, having established this as well, the perpetuator, Com. Fakorede Ayomide didn't deny the allegation of embezzlement against him and the total refund made so far.

However, according to the President, it's just a rumor that he was in the soldier's custody. "The soldiers only apprehended him and handed him over to the police. He was detained at the Police Station for a while before he was later released when he agreed to pay the money back in instalment", she noted. 

2. Accused Social Director:

During a telephone interview with the accused Social Director, Com. Fakorede Ayomide, he admitted to the allegations of embezzlement, stating that he had indeed used the funds for sports betting. He expressed remorse for his actions and acknowledged the need to make amends. He also stated that he has been remitting the money back to the NAPADS association account as part of the agreement he made with the Department's Stakeholders and Executive to secure his release from Police detention. 

3. Chairman of Planning Committee:

The Chairman of the Planning Committee, Com. Oyeniyi Tunde Ibrahim, discussed the challenges faced due to the embezzlement, detailing how they managed to carry on with the Dinner and Award Night, ensuring the event's success.

Speaking to our correspondence via an interview, the Chairman, Com. Oyeniyi Tunde Ibrahim stated that "There was no committee at the beginning. It was Social that was in charge of the program and the process of the money and other activities. So we created group which I was chose to be the Chairman and the General Secretary [of the department] happened to be the Financial Secretary [of the committee]. So we committee started to check balance the Social Director and [asked that] he should give us the break down and tell us the available money with him. He told us he has sort some other’s thing and I told him to give us the evidence of the payment. That was when we realized the money was mismanaged [by him]."

"So within a week, as the Chairman, I organized how we source for the funds and we give ourselves task and we divided ourselves and everyone cooperate with each other to carry out the tasks, and everyone contributed to the success of the event and reshape the whole scene. So we (the committee) were responsible for the success of the event", he further said. 

4. Department General Secretary and Vice Chairman/Financial Secretary of the Planning Committee:

The Department General Secretary, who also doubled as the Vice Chairman and Financial Secretary of the Planning Committee in person of Com. Olayiwola Azeez Bamidele, provided insights into the financial management of the event. He highlighted the collaborative efforts made to address the financial gap resulting from the embezzlement.

"When we brought up the idea of Dinner and Award Night, we wanted to fix it with the Ilaji Excursion, then the Social Director and the President realized that it can't be possible, so they had to shift it for everything to be fine" Com. Olayiwola Azeez Bamidele said on how the plan was birth. 

"Starting from the beginning of our administration, I informed the P.R.O, Welfare Director, Social Director and other office holders to make sure they have committee, that the committee would enable their task to be easy for them and they would only have to delegate . But it was late before I realized that the committee of the Social Director is not performing. When I met with two members of the committee, one from ND 1 and another one from my class, they both said that the Social Director doesn't say anything in their WhatsApp group, he just do his things alone. So we didn't know that it was this extreme."

"After we discovered that money has been mismanaged by the Social Director, we decided to organize a committee to spearhead the whole thing so that we won't be put into shame", Com. Azeez said. 

"When the issue [of embezzlement] occurred, we had just one week to work, and we realized the dream. AY's (Social Director) mum paid some certain amount which is close to N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only), and all the Committee members also helped the dinner party financially. The 13 members of the Committee did a great job financially, physically, their strength, they made sure the dinner party is successful. Some of us borrowed money individually, advocated for funds, support, and facilitated how the Dinner party was successful."

"When we realized that he won't be able to pay the money on time, we the committee decided to task ourselves to source for fund, and we all did a good job. When it gets to a stage, we were all frustrated but all thanks to Akere Okikiola Babatunde, Oyeniyi Tunde Ibrahim and President Chichi who calmed us down and motivated us to forge ahead with the plan."

When asked on update regarding the money that was borrowed to finance the event, he said "We the Committee went out to borrow money, but as I'm speaking with you right now, we have cleared all debts. We no longer owe anybody money."

"We produce close to 147 awards for both lecturers, dignitaries, and all the students that paid for award including those that Social Director embezzled their money. We did award for all of them. Lecturers, Departmental Secretaries, everybody. We did award for all of them."

"We spent close to N1,200,000 for the Dinner and Award Night in terms of food, award, hall, live band, DJ and so on. During the dinner night, we were able to generate N427,000 and we were able to clear our debt. We are not owing anybody and no one is owing us. The party went successfully and all thanks to the Planning Committee, they really tried. Even, the debt invoke on the ticket by the Social Director, we have cleared it all. Also, we didn't use any penny from the association account for the Dinner party."

Com. Olayiwola Azeez Bamidele also confirmed that the total money embezzled by the Social Director is more than the reported N800,000. "As of the time that he was arrested, the money that we calculated is close to N800,000. Meanwhile, when he was at the police station, after we have already written police statement, people came to our DM with their proof of payments saying that he (Socal Director) collected money from them. We later realized that the money is close to N1,400,000. You know we have already written statement at the police station before this new discovery, and we can't change the statement, so we asked him to pay the N800,000 first before we proceed with the remainder of the money."

Conclusion:

The investigation into the embezzlement of funds meant for the National Association of Public Administration Students’ Dinner and Award Night event revealed the misuse of funds by the Social Director. Despite the disruption caused by the allegations, the department's proactive approach, collaborative efforts, and agreements for repayment ensured the successful execution of the event. The incident serves as a reminder of the importance of transparency, accountability, and vigilance in managing departmental finances.

According to information made known to us, the event wouldn't have been successful without the significant impact of the 13 men Committee that was created by the Association for the Dinner and Award Night. The members of the Committee includes the following: Oyeniyi Tunde Ibrahim (Chairman), Olayiwola Azeez Bamidele (Vice Chairman/Financial Secretary), Ude Chinaza Nnenna (who was also in charge of the inflow and outflow of funds in the Committee), Okunlola Adebukola (Committee Secretary), Adetoro Usman Dolapo, Adewole Aminat, Oladapo Taofeek, Ogungbade Olúwadámilólá, Oluwakemi Simiat (the Department's Welfare Director), Akere Okikiola Babatunde, Abdullahi Quozeem, Oluwaseun Joseph and Anjorin Oluwafemi. 

Sequel to Previous Report:

This investigation report is a continuation of the previous report released by the NAPADS Press on 9th August, 2023. It builds upon the information provided in the earlier report and delves deeper into the investigation process and subsequent developments.

To read the previous story, click: Public Administration Department Social Director accused of embezzlement