Even as the Senate is working toward repositioning the Nigerian railway system to enable it develop a capacity to create 60,000 jobs, tension is presently building up at the Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC headquarters, following alleged missing of over N1billion NRC Pension Fund.
Already, a number of staff and some top management personnel of the corporation have been indicted by NRC management over the missing fund.
Also indicted are a retired MD and retired Secretary to the Corporation.
This revelation which came to public glare as a result of an internal investigation conducted by the management on the corporation’s pension fund was discovered as perpetrated through acts of fraud, financial recklessness, miss-appropriation and conspiracy, undertaken by some officials of the corporation.
Investigations revealed that the management instituted an internal enquiry into the management of the corporation’s pension fund during which these shocking discoveries were made.
As at the time filing this report it was discovered that the management of the Railway Corporation headed by the Managing Director, Engr. Adeseyi Sijuwade, has forwarded to the new Chairman of the Board, Alhaji (Dr) Bamanga Tukur the report of the enquiry.
An inside source at the Corporation’s head office also hinted that part of the report contained the names of the suspected culprits and recommendations on how to recover the missing fund from the culprits.
According to our source, “the Board Chairman is now in possession of the report and will soon summon an emergency meeting of the Board to discuss the issue”.
It was also discovered that the exercise that yielded these positive results is one of the exercises embarked upon by the management and the new Board of the Corporation to sanitise and improve the financial base and management of the corporation.
Earlier, two directors of the corporation and others had been suspended over the pension fraud, while four other top managers of the Corporation have been asked to proceed on compulsory leave without salary to enable management the free-hand to properly investigate the degree of complicity of officers concerned in the loot, stolen from the coffers of the corporation.
Sources at Ebute Metta, Lagos, however, gave the names of those who may assist the corporation in the onerous task as being inclusive of Mr. Euna Igbe, (Assistant Director, Finance; Mr. Ekwubiri (Assistant Director, Audit); Mr. Olu Lawal and one Mrs. Obi of the pension department. The mentioned officers were said to have been subsequently moved out of their departments, to avoid complication and to enable the management conduct unhindered investigation into the fraud.
The team of investigators said it suspected that “Lawal’s personal account, was being used by the two assistant directors as conduit pipe to siphon the money” before he was asked by the management to join others on compulsory leave.
Trouble started when the management was looking for the pension money to enable it prepare the retirement benefits of some directors due to exit next year, especially of those directors who had spent the statutory years for retirement, and should therefore go on retirement because of old age and redundancy.
The source further disclosed that N40 million was presently being allegedly traced to Lawal’s account, noting that the rest of the money had been withdrawn and transferred to an assistant director’s accounts, according to the panel of enquiry probing the theft.
Nigerian Pilot was told that members of the investigating panel were Engr Fidet Okhiria, director, Mechanical and Electrical, Ahaji Sehu Tijjani, Jonah Abuh, deputy Director, Finance, and Mrs. Gloria Odumade, Chief Admin Officer.
Reacting, the NRC Assistant Director, Public Relations, Mr. David Ndakotsu denied the suspension of the officers, saying he was not aware of their suspension. He noted that the panel set up by NRC management was a mere administrative procedure.
“It is a usual practice by NRC to set up a panel to look into the activities of every department,” he concluded.
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