NACOSS Financial Quagmire: The President’s Angle

Financial management has been a major tool used in testing the integrity and the accountability of any leader in an organization. The sound of the rumours peddling around the department of Computer Science over some financial mismanagement by some members of the Executives have nuzzled more than the bee colony, people always gather in twos or more discussing or murmuring about the state of the financial status of the department run by the student leaders either with/from a right source or wrong source.

Hence, the President of the National Association of Computer Studies Students, The Polytechnic, Ibadan chapter Com. Olalekan Johnson have decided to clear the air and let the hitching ear hears the right and factual happenings as regards the NACOSS FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT in the department, while accepting that the said rumor is a fact, they (some of the Executives) said the press must know the truth behind the misnomer, “A river is deep because of its source” says one of the African proverb.

It all started late last year during which the 2016/2017 set were inaugurated and power was handed over to them by their predecessors to continue to manage, improve, champion the better cause of the welfare of the student in this department as the new executives, but alas, their first challenge was the changing of signatory to the NACOSS account, by the time they got access to the account they have already begun the collection of NACOSS annual dues and other relevant fees, which are NACOSS dues,Wi-Fi-maintenance, ID card and merchandise at the rate of#700, #200, #400 & #2,000 respectively almost a month before having full access to the existing NACOSS account, that is no money was remitted by the Treasurer, Olalere Johnson along with the Financial Secretary, Olatunji Ganiyu Oladimeji, from 09-01-2017 to 06-02-2017 which 249 students registered and a sum of #626,200.00 only was realized then and the treasurer did not remit this money into the account neither was he able account for it.

When asked he kept on generating random number that does not tally with the numbers of registered students. At the end of first semester (though coming late), the auditor audited the financial transactions and discovered that contrary to the initial claim by the financial secretary that they sold 938 NACOSS due receipts, 506 merchandise, 906 Wi-Fi maintenance fee and 835 IDcards were issued making a difference of 689 of the students that registered and it was because of the lack of money in the account, there was a delay in the execution of the planned budget and even the stoppage of the Wi-Fi subscription in the department.

Also it was discovered that the Fin. Sec. alongside with the treasurer issued some receipts to students without the signature of the President on it. Meanwhile another set of receipts were issued to students by the Fin Sec. and Treasurer without dropping the counterfoils, one of it has the missing receipts from 110-1200 and another from 1-50 all these were discovered during the audit.

In addition, a committee of Five (5) was set up in the beginning of this year to produce the department merchandise with a general criteria to follow and each member is to produce 50 products per batch making a total of 259 for each batch but rather than to abide with this rule, the Fin.sec accrued to himself 79 instead of 50 to himself and yet have not delivered a single merchandise till now.

Afterwards the designer was arrested since he was nowhere to be found and a sum of #45,000.00 was recovered from him (designer) out of #114,100.00. Meanwhile in the second batch, the Fin. Sec. designer did not supply anything and a member of the committee did not meet specification.

Also the Fin. Sec. report on the merchandise sold was different from the auditors report while the Fin. Sec. claimed 500, the auditor ascertained 506 and the President said with his team (external auditors) that it is over 570. After the full audit from the external auditors in conjunction with some team members, they verified that a total of 1,012 students fully paid for annual dues, 576 students paid for merchandise, 119 paid for Wi-Fi maintenance fee and 1,025 students paid for ID card against the earlier numbers claimed by the financial secretary and treasurer which brings the amount to #2, 584,300.00.

As it stands the Fin. Sec. and the Treasurer are yet to remit the sum of #600,000 + to the NACOSS account and it’s the only remaining money relied on to work with including the sitting allowance of the Honourable members as the earlier amount generated money had been used up with the various activities of the department such as orientation day, NACOSS day, Sultan Beach Trip and Network and Cisco computer training etc.

The measures taken has been reporting them to the departmental management and about writing to the SDC (Student Disciplinary Committee) and the security services for proper action.

Extracted from the interview with the NACOSS President, Com. Olalekan Johnson for the 2016/17 Academic Session.

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