Former Chairman of the Lagos Island Club Accused of Stealing Funds.
The former chairman of the Lagos Island Club has been accused of stealing funds based on the reports on financial investigation carried out by the club committee.
According to the Report of the Ad-hoc Committee on financial investigation for the Island club, for the period of 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2020, the document was released on the 12th of March 2021 with clear figures showing the inconsistency in handling financial matters.
The allegations were leveled against Mr. Bamji Oladapo’s tenure as the chairman of the Island club though he handed over in May 2019. The former chairman in his outgoing speech stated that in the last 2 years, he and his team had improved the club.
However, from the reports dating from the 1st of January 2019- the 31st of December 2020, there were
a lot of expenditures that lacked accountability.
The members of the committee that held meetings to carry out the investigation include:
1. Chief Ade Ogunjumelo, FCA, KCOP Chairman
2. Mr. Yemi Solarin Member
3. Mr. Kolawole Akindele Member
4. Deacon Olufemi Aborowa Member
5. Mr. Yemi Adewole Member/Secretary
But, on the 20th of January 2021, Mr. Yemi Adewole resigned from the committee due to health issues as a member (Secretary), the Management Committee then appointed Mr. Tokunbo Foresythe, who joined the committee on the 21st of January 2021 as a new member (secretary).
The committee immediately started work in line with the terms of reference by identifying individuals that would be invited for an interactive session on the issues raised.
Below are the names of those who were invited, their former positions, the dates for their invitation, and the times they were to arrive:
Mr. Segun Ogundipe (Acting Honorary Treasurer) – Monday 25th January – 1:45 pm
Mr. Segun Oyegbola (Former Honorary Treasurer) – Monday 25th January – 3:20 pm.
Arc. Bankole Agbaje (former Hon. Gen. Secretary)- Monday 25th January – NIL
Chief Siji Olowosuko (Former Honorary Treasurer) -Tuesday 26th January – 6:00 pm
VIP Lifts (Representative) – Friday 29th January- 4:00 pm
Mr. Olumuyiwa Odeniyi (E. AUDITORS: Olumuyiwa Odeniyi & Co) – Friday 29th January – 5:00 pm
Out of all those invited, only Arc. Bankole Agbaje (former Hon. Gen. Secretary) failed to honor the invitation.
The meetings held on different dates with the various invitees in attendance. They were asked various questions regarding their former positions. After the meetings and serious scrutinization of the financial statements, the committee came up with the following observations:
1. Ad-hoc committee observed that while Income indicated a general trend of decline, the Expenditure, on the contrary, took a general trend of increase. In June 2019, Income stood at N34.9M while Expenditure went up to N52.7M resulting in a deficit of N17.8M. December 2019 followed the same trend of Income (N75.4M) and Expenditure (N109.3M) with the resultant deficit of a whopping N33.9M.28.
2. Ad-hoc committee also noted with concern the level of decline in Cash and Bank balances within the period January through to June 2020. As of December 2018, these balances stood at N38.9M. However, these declined steadily to N12.3M, N7.2M, and N4.2M by June 2019, December 2019, and June 2020 respectively. A probable implication of this trend is the erosion of working capital thereby putting the day-to-day running of the Club (payment of utilities, payment of salaries, procurement of drinks, etc.;) into jeopardy.
3. Furthermore, fixed deposits stood at N122.9M in June 2018 but declined to N54.2M by December 2018. The downward trend continued in June 2019 (N32M), December 2019 (N5M), June 2020 (N5.1M), and December 2020 (N3.3M). The ad-hoc committee observed that the essence of placing funds in interests-yielding accounts appeared to have been defeated as income from investments declined significantly due to a rapid reduction in the amount left therein.
The Ad-hoc committee concluded from the above observations that the resources and fortunes of the Club started dwindling during the six-month period ended June 2019.
The committee then came up with amendments and recommendations to fix the issues caused by the past chairman such as:
1) An urgent need for the club constitution amendments to address the ambiguous and arbitrary exercise of power in respect of financial expenditure by Principal officers of the club.
2) Creation of new positions (officers) like a compitent financial secretary and an internal auditor.
3) Access into Island club by non-members (Male and Female) should be of serious concern to Management Committee.
4) A new account at Heritage Bank Plc was opened making a total of 9 operational Bank accounts for the club to ensure the safety of funds.
The report ended with the committee members stating that it was a privilege to serve the Island Club hence being in an elective position is not a means to obtain a meal ticket.
“We are all entitled to our opinion but there is no alternative to FACTS. All we have presented before you are FACTS in furtherance to the assignment given to us. Long live The island club.”
In addition to the report, scanned copies of relevant documents were provided as evidence of the investigation carried out.
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