Agric secretariat to shut down erring cooperatives

The Secretary, Agriculture Rural Development Secretariat, Mr Ifeanyichukwu Nzekwe, has threatened to shut down any Cooperative Society in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that fails to undergo compulsory recertification. Nzekwe, however, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview in Abuja on Sunday that operations of the cooperative societies have improved tremendously. “At […]

The Secretary, Agriculture Rural Development Secretariat, Mr Ifeanyichukwu Nzekwe, has threatened to shut down any Cooperative Society in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that fails to undergo compulsory recertification.

Nzekwe, however, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview in Abuja on Sunday that operations of the cooperative societies have improved tremendously.

“At inception I had several petitions, including an allegation that the cooperative societies do not hold meetings.

“Executives remain in office without conducting elections, which allows for several fraudulent transactions and indirect acquisition of the assets of the cooperative societies.

“Such petitions came in from the Federal Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Capital Development Authority, Office of the Head of Service of the Federation and individuals.

“Swindlers take land under cooperatives, sell and resell to more than one person, while some of the cooperative societies have not been audited in the past 10 years,’’ he said.

Nzekwe alleged that many of them do not even know the cooperative laws, “so, we had to start the recertification process with the aim of identifying the genuine ones.

“This is in order to bring them up to the tenets, regulations and also educate them on the dos and don’ts of cooperative societies.

“The process is to ensure that their books are audited and are up to date, while proper elections are conducted at the end of their tenure so that members can have a say in who heads the cooperative societies.

“I am happy to say that the new certificates have been acquired and any cooperative society that doesn’t get a recertification will seize to exist in the FCT.’’