Leading financial institution ASO Savings & Loans Plc, and the Company Secretary of its merger partner, Union Homes Plc, Mrs Maimuna Chionuma, are in the trenches over the princely sum of N2.5 billion the Lagos State Government paid as judgement debt and compensation to Union Homes Plc, Searaq Nig. Ltd and the Abule Ado Plumbing Materials Association.

Lagos State Government paid the fees as a court-ordered agreement following the settlement of the cases filed by Union Homes Ltd, Agric Coker Building & Plumbing Materials Dealers Association, Agric Coker Building Materials Dealers, and Seraq Limited. The offence was the demolition of shops to expand the Badagry Expressway. Union Homes funded the associations to build the shops.

While Mrs Chionuma accuses ASO Savings & Loans of diverting the money and threatening her life, the company says she is embittered and has resorted to blackmail and defamation following the foiling of her plans to divert the compensation money.

Mrs Chionuma’s allegations are contained in a petition she wrote to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and financial services industry regulators.

Mrs Chionuma further alleged threat to her life by the officers allegedly responsible for the heist, namely Risi Ladi Ahmed (MD, ASO Savings & Loans), Richard Femi Bello, also of ASO Savings, and Femi Adewoye, Chief Operating Officer of Union Homes.

Her counsel, Kukei Umoye, Esq, averred in the petition: “We write, as a matter of urgency, to bring to your attention the risks to our client's life and the nefarious activities of the above-mentioned individuals who have constituted themselves into a cabal that has continuously defrauded Union Homes of her money and assets, particularly the latest theft of N2.5 billion (Two billion five million Naira) which is a proceed of litigation at the Lagos State High Court between Union Homes and others against Lagos State wherein the Court advised parties to settle and subsequently granted a court-ordered judgement. The court ordered the money to be paid into a specific account with further orders.

“Without recourse to Union Homes, the above-mentioned persons diverted and converted the money to an account unknown to Union Homes.

“The risk to our client is on account of her refusal as Company Secretary/ Head, Legal, Union Homes Savings & Loans Plc (hereinafter referred to as ‘UH’) to aid and abet fraud, money laundering, diversion, and conversion of N2.5 billion (Two billion, five hundred million Naira) Lagos State Compensation, due in part to ‘UH’, by the above persons.”

Mrs Chionuma said that trouble started when she declined an instruction to be part of the activity whereby ASO claimed that 50% of the N2.5bn, which translates to N1.250bn, was paid to “Political People”. She said they told her that N75m was paid as fees to a consultant for sharing money to “Political People”. Mrs Chionuma said she refused to sign off the payment of N50m as part of the total sum of N126m purportedly incurred as legal fees to counsel not on the court’s record.

ASO Savings & Loans, however, says she is telling tales by moonlight. Responding to the allegations, the company told its side of the story. It said in a written response to News Express:

“Union Homes had in 1998 and 2002 granted credit facilities of N208.6 Million and N150 Million to Agric Coker Building & Plumbing Materials Association (ACBPMA) and Searaq Nigeria Ltd (Searaq) respectively for the construction of the Abule-Ado Market and Afolabi Ege Market respectively, both in Lagos.

“Union Homes and these customers (Searaq and ACBPMA) had harmonized and pursued compensation claims arising from subsequent demolition of the shops by the State Government. To this end, Mrs. Maimuna Chionuma (then Union Homes Company Secretary and daughter-in-law of the former Managing Director of the bank) had engaged her friend’s Law Firm to pursue the claims in court. The prolonged court actions and developments yielded no result for about 12 years.

“Based on her recommendations, the bank resorted to alternative means of pursuing the compensation claims which yielded results as the State Government eventually conceded to amicably settle the compensation claims.

“Meanwhile, Mrs. Chionuma had, without the approval of the Bank’s Board or Management, single-handedly executed Terms of Settlement with the customers as would commit the bank to pay the sum of N257 Million to her friend’s Law Firm which she had engaged. This was in addition to the agreed fees in the engagement terms with the firm.

“Mrs. Chionuma further sought that the entire compensation monies be paid into the account of her friend’s Law Firm. This was declined by the Management and the compensation sums were eventually paid through ASO Savings, a reputable financial Institution and the legal owner of Union Homes based on the concluded acquisition.

“The monies, after necessary tax deductions, were judiciously used to liquidate the customers’ loan obligations to Union Homes and other entitlements of the customers, refund buyers of the demolished shops and settled Union Homes’ obligations to its depositors. No complaint on utilization of the monies was ever received from the affected customers or buyers of the demolished shops.

“Embittered with a truncation of her efforts to siphon these monies, Maimuna instigated a few Union Homes staff to commence a campaign of calumny against ASO Savings and its Executives, with a view to frustrating ASO’s efforts to integrate the business of ASO and Union Homes further to its concluded acquisition of Union Homes.

“Prior to this, the former Union Homes Scribe had always felt slighted that as the daughter-in-law of the former Managing Director of Union Homes, she would be subjected to checks and controls introduced to Union Homes upon its acquisition by ASO and designed to ensure prudency, transparency and safeguard Depositors’ funds.

“The former Union Homes scribe has also recently sponsored false publications attacking ASO’s acquisition of Union Homes after about 7 years of being retained by ASO to oversee the affairs of the Company Secretariat/Legal Unit of Union Homes.

“It is a well-known fact that ASO’s acquisition of Union Homes was duly approved by the Regulators, Shareholders as well as the Court. The Court Order approving such acquisition was published in the National Dailies without ever eliciting any adverse reaction from the stakeholders. The Majority Shareholders of Union Homes have consistently reiterated their support of ASO’s acquisition of Union Homes and its efforts to resuscitate its ailing operations and integrate the business of both entities.

“Meanwhile, necessary steps have commenced towards a redress of the infractions of the former Union Homes Scribe and her cohorts.”

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