Delta hospital workers and retirees cry out over N70m cooperative fund

Members of the Delta State Hospital Management Board Multipurpose Cooperative Society II are calling on Governor Sheriff Oborevwori and the state Attorney General to help them recover their withheld cooperative savings. They say the funds are over N70 million and have been held back due to claims of financial mismanagement and long delays.

They explained that the situation has left both current workers and retirees without their savings, which they had planned to use after retirement.

In separate interviews with PUNCH Metro on Saturday, the cooperative’s president, Emelereta Emmanuel, stated that the delay has stopped the society’s annual meetings and has made executive members face threats and harassment from angry members who cannot access their savings.

He urged the governor and the state Attorney General to act on their behalf to recover their money and any landed properties.

“Our prayers are that the governor and the Attorney General should use their good offices to help release our withheld money, which is over N70 million, and help us recover our money and landed properties,” Emmanuel said.

A couple, Herrieta and Julius Otobene, who both retired in 2025, said this situation has ruined their plans for a peaceful retirement after years of service.

“We have more than N2 million in the account. We were supposed to retire in peace after paying our dues as civil servants, but now we are caught up in this issue. All we want is our money,” Julius Otobene said for both of them.

A lawyer, Benjamin Amede, claimed that the last executive committee failed to account for the contributions made during its time in charge. This led members to ask the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate the issue.

He added that the disagreement has resulted in multiple court cases. The state Ministry of Justice held a meeting on June 1 to look into ways to resolve the matter.

According to Amede, the meeting decided that all parties should drop their court cases, provide account statements, and hold an annual meeting by September, after which the members' money would be released.

“Our case was withdrawn on June 18, but till now, they are still holding our money. We could not hold the annual meeting because there is no money. On October 9, we wrote a letter to the Attorney General, explaining that we could not organize the meeting without funds,” he said.

Amede also mentioned that members are getting upset about not being able to access their savings and are threatening to confront the executive committee.

Another member, Omogha Faith, said issues with the cooperative’s leadership and the release of needed documents have made it harder to solve the problem.

She noted that members had gone to court to address these issues before the Ministry of Justice brought them together for mediation.

According to her, the parties were told to present their account statements, withdraw their court cases, and hold an annual meeting, with the promise that the necessary documents and funds would be released to help.

“Since April, we have done everything they asked us to do,” she said.

Faith mentioned that members could not just withdraw the EFCC petition as the Ministry of Trade and Investment requested because individual members started it and it is still under investigation.

She asked Governor Oborevwori to instruct the right authorities to release the funds, warning that the ongoing issue has put some members at risk.

“As I am talking to you, I feel unsafe because of this money. I believe the governor, who has been good to the people, will use his influence to order the release of the money because he will not be happy that civil servants are suffering like this,” she said.

Faith urged the state government to help members get their savings back and benefit from the cooperative, noting that the total amount involved is more than N70 million.

Israel Watite, an accountant at a hospital in Sapele and the cooperative’s secretary, described the situation as troubling. He said members have contributed for years, hoping that their savings and dividends would be available upon retirement.

“The main reason people join this cooperative is to have a safety net for retirement. They expect to get their savings back, plus dividends,” Watite said.

He said many retirees are now upset to find out that their savings are not available.

“Some may have saved N1 million or N2 million, only to find out that not even a kobo is available,” he said.

Watite claimed that past leaders of the cooperative have not accounted for the funds, stating that some have left the country while others have gone missing.

He believes that the cooperative’s total savings could be at least N800 million and possibly over N1 billion built up over more than twenty years, but members have yet to recover their contributions.

He added that members have faced threats and other difficulties in their efforts to change the leadership, saying their main goal is to recover the cooperative’s funds.

Watite expressed worry that the complaints of members have not been taken seriously, suggesting that some government officials might be helping those responsible for the situation.

He said the uncertainty has left many members frustrated, especially those who have spent their working lives saving for retirement.

“It is painful and deeply regrettable to have invested your money in something you hoped would help you, only to see your hopes dashed. It is hard to find the right words to describe the experience. It is a very painful situation,” he said.

Watite added that members keep reaching out to him daily about their inability to access their savings, but the issue is still unresolved.

When contacted on Sunday, the Director of Cooperatives under the Ministry of Trade and Investment, Joseph Okotie, said he could not speak because he was in church.

“Let’s talk in the evening,” he said.

However, several calls and text messages sent to him on Sunday evening did not get a reply. A WhatsApp message sent to him also went unanswered at the time of this report.