Niger Warns Cooperative Societies Against Fraud

The Niger State Government has threatened to prosecute cooperative societies found to have siphoned public funds in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
The Head of Service in the state, Alhaji Sule Yabagi, issued the threat during a two-day workshop on strategic planning for stakeholders in the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Social Security Scheme in Minna.
The NUT scheme was established following the provision of its constitution in 2003 to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of the union.
Yabagi said that the office of the Head of Service was monitoring activities of all state government parastatals with a view to repositioning them.
“Niger government will not condone a situation whereby these organisations are used as conduit pipes to siphon people’s money.
“We have received reports of fraudulent activities going on in some of the cooperative societies. We are monitoring their activities to ensure that such frauds do not repeat again.
“Any person caught using cooperatives as an avenue to siphon people’s money will be sanctioned and dealt with in accordance with the law,” he said.
Yabagi warned that anybody found embezzling money meant for civil servants and retired civil servant in the state would face the wrath of the law.
He, however, urged participants to conduct an assessment that would address social issues facing the union.
The head of service appealed to similar organisations to emulate the union and cooperatives to come up with new ideas that would promote the welfare of their members.
The Senior Assistant General Secretary of the state NUT, Alhaji Labaran Garba, disclosed that the 2017 strategic plan was for five years designed to strengthen system of delivery across the five selected special focus areas.
He said that the areas are education, agricultural, business, housing, micro financing and the cooperatives meant to enhance the socio-economic status of members of the scheme.