The Chairperson of the Police Officers Wives Association (POWA), Ekiti State, Mrs Monisola Susan Ogundare has been accused of shady dealings and misappropriation of funds of the association running into millions of naira.
A petition to the National President of POWA, Mrs Elizabeth Egbetokun, by a group of insiders identified as Team Independent Investigation, accused her of stripping POWA of its assets and converting them into personal gains.
The insiders asked the national president to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations and recover all looted funds and assets of the association.
In documents obtained by SaharaReporters, the insiders accused the Ekiti POWA chairperson of improper allocation of resources designated for the betterment of POWA and its beneficiaries, an action they said contradicted the principles and regulations of the association.
They accused Mrs Ogundare among others of diversion of funds intended for POWA into her account and the sale of land designated for a carwash.
According to them, Ogundare sold a parcel of land designated for a carwash facility, adding that the land was supposed to generate revenue to support the needy and underprivileged within POWA and PWA.
“Regrettably, Mrs Ogundare sold each parcel of land at a rate of five hundred and fifty thousand naira, culminating in a total of two million seven hundred and seventy- five thousand naira (N2,775,000,).
“She originally promised to utilize the proceeds to procure a bus for POWA, but the funds were allegedly redirected to her personal account. To date, neither the bus nor the amount generated from the land sales has not been accounted for,” the team said.
On the acquisition of property in Odo Ado and Ologede, they alleged that the property belonged to members of the Police Officers’ Wives Association (POWA) in Ekiti State.
“Some POWA members in Ekiti State have not received any benefits from the association but have paid for the approval of the space at Odo Ado at the state level, only waiting for the chairperson to come before the project can be carried out.
“Mrs. Ogundare Susan cunningly acquired these properties for herself and refused to return the six hundred and fifty thousand (N650,000) naira which members contributed for approval at the state level.
“Furthermore, she has not remitted any proceeds from these properties to the POWA account. She has not provided any evidence of the national approval that she claimed to have sought, nor has she returned the N650,000 she received for it. The 10 shops she built, five in Odo Ado and five in Ologede, have been converted into her personal properties rather than being designated for POWA in Ekiti State,” the insiders alleged.
They, therefore, asked Mrs. Ogundare to return the two shops she reportedly acquired and then sold out.
“These shops were originally meant for the POWA association and were built by her predecessor. She must restore the rightful ownership of these projects by reverting them to the POWA association in Ekiti State without any further delay.
“We are begging her to return six hundred and fifty thousand (N650,000) naira that the members paid for approval in Ekiti state lands and housing since she has already used the approval for her project.
“Additionally, we request that Mrs. Ogundare remit the money she collected from the sale of the carwash parcel of land amounting to N2.7 million to the Ekiti POWA account immediately.
“She should also remit all the money collected from philanthropists like Are Afe Babalola, and Tpumpin, among others. This money belongs to the POWA Association of Ekiti State.
“In anticipation of a prompt and fair resolution, we have prepared a hard copy of the evidence to be submitted to the relevant authorities. This is to ensure that, if required, a thorough independent investigation can be conducted to ascertain the truth behind these allegations.
“We urge you to treat this matter as a priority, as addressing it promptly will not only restore faith in POWA’s leadership but also prevent any further damage caused by potential wrongdoing,” the team appealed.
When SaharaReporters reached out to some of the women who reportedly paid the said money, they all corroborated the account of the petitioners.
Narrating how they paid the money, one Mrs Kingsley told SaharaReporters that they had paid for allocations before Mrs Ogundare came to Ekiti State and sold it.
“Before they posted ‘Madam’ (Mrs Ogundare) to Ekiti, we had been going round the stations looking for space for POWA people. We had so many spaces that they had built now and sold. They allocated those places to POWA members. The POWA secretary then said we would pay for approval for government and POWA allocation.
“For POWA allocation, we paid N50,000 and N55,000 for government approval because we met the officer in charge (OC) of works who gave a breakdown.
“The total money we paid then was N115,000. Although some people did not pay the N50,000 POWA allocation, they only paid N55,000 for normal government approval. We were like three or four who paid the complete N115,000 for Ologede police station.”
She regretted that when Ogundare came, she told them to pay an additional N550,000 to augment the money they had paid for a space.
“We told her that the money was too much and that we could not afford it.
“That is why she sold the carwash which I even bought. I paid N550,000 before she gave me one. We are supposed to pay N50,000 for POWA approval but because she said she wanted to use the money to do something for POWA, she increased it. It is only two POWA members that could afford that money at that time.
“So what we are now asking for is the refund of N115,000 we paid for Ologede police station. She has started building the place and she said if you want you pay N550,000 for a space and build your own and if you want to buy the one she had built, you pay N1.5 million. Nobody can afford it and we did not buy it.
“We have gone to meet her but she has not refunded it. When we met her for the money, she said it could only be refunded after she had built and sold those spaces.”
Another POWA member, who didn’t want her name mentioned also collaborated on the account of Mrs Kingsley.
She regretted that despite being a member and having paid for space, Mrs Ogundare collected it from her and sold it without refunding the money she had paid.
“The one we paid money for at Ologede, we paid for C of O to the state government that time. We also did the surveyor plan of that place which we paid money for. Unfortunately, the place has been built and sold without allocating to us and have not also refunded our money.”
When SaharaReporters reached out to Mrs Ogundare for her reaction, she denied the allegations.
“I am working under somebody and it cannot be my word against theirs. I would like a thorough investigation to be carried out to find out the actual truth. I have the executive members that I work with.
“But as I said, an investigation will vindicate me of these accusations,” she said.