Land business: FCTA staff move against colleague

The demonstration which started in front of the FCT High Court, Apo ended by the pedestrian entrance to Area 11 office of the FCTA, attracting many passersby. Samchi who is immediate past president of the FCDA Staff Multi-purpose Cooperative Society was accused of misappropriating the society’s finances.He was investigated by the management but no punitive […]

The demonstration which started in front of the FCT High Court, Apo ended by the pedestrian entrance to Area 11 office of the FCTA, attracting many passersby.
Samchi who is immediate past president of the FCDA Staff Multi-purpose Cooperative Society was accused of misappropriating the society’s finances.
He was investigated by the management but no punitive measures have been taken against him, the demonstrators said.
The staff carried banners and placards with writings like: FCDA Staff Multi-purpose Cooperative Society defrauded by Mr Ambrose Samchi (former president); cooperative estate land of 36 hectares diverted for personal property; moved N20 million from cooperative account in First Generation Homes (FGH) to his personal account in IBTC bank etc.
Samchi who was in Salary Accounts section was investigated and issued a query early this year. Those who spoke demanded quick action against Samchi.
The secretary general of the FCDA Staff Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, Onoja Yakubu said, “The young man [Samchi] promised to ground the cooperative society to a halt and he has taken the executive to court, that the house be dissolved and accounts frozen.
“The stakeholders said no, that is not possible. They cannot allow their money to be frozen. They need to have access to their resources. That’s why we’re protesting.”
The treasurer, Mrs Elizabeth Omomude, said, “I’m angry because management has refused to come up.
“This issue has been on for two years now. The FCTA management is aware of this case.
“It was so massive. It’s not what we should keep quiet. We’ve written more than four times.”  
Another protester said, “As a civil servant, if indicted of fraud, management should have suspended him pending the determination of the case.
“This man is still in the system, still using the apparatus of the system to disrupt investigations.”
When contacted, Samchi refused to speak.
The Director of Establishment and Training, FCTA who investigated the matter, Mr Ado Yakasai said he did a report and passed it to the office of the Permanent Secretary, FCTA.
This reporter was told that the Permanent Secretary, Mr John Chukwu had in turn set up a panel headed by the Director of Administration and Finance, Transport Secretariat, FCTA, Mrs Lois Maikori to look into the Yakasai’s report.
The matter has since then being with Mrs Maikori’s panel.
 Samchi has taken the interim management of the society to court, praying the court to frozen the account of the cooperative society. The matter has been adjourned till June 3, 2014 for hearing.
The FCDA Staff Multi-purpose Cooperative Society has over 4,000 members.