In this report, The Informant247’s Yemi Sodeeq exposes mismanagement of public funds by the Kwara Ladies FC Chairman and how it has affected the progress of the team. Players and officials also accused the chairman of forging their signatures on payment slips.
In June 2023, the 9th Kwara State House of Assembly recommended of government the dissolution of the board and staff of Kwara Ladies Football Club to the state government and constitute a new one to reflect the state’s geographical realities.
The recommendation was part of the resolutions of the House following the adoption of a report on a petition addressed to the House Committee on Sports, Tourism, and Culture.
The committee, chaired by Mr. Awolola Olumide Ayokunle representing Isin constituency, discovered the misappropriation of the monthly subvention paid to the club, necessitating drastic measures to rectify the situation.
The house, however, dissolved itself into a Committee of the Whole for a thorough legislative debate on the report.
Returning to plenary, the Speaker of the house, Mr. Yakubu Danladi-Salihu commended Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for prioritizing the club and appealed for the club to be placed under the supervision and control of the Kwara State Sports Commission for effective management.
The assembly urged that a new leadership be constituted to manage the affairs of the team ensuring that it reflects the geographical realities of the state.
It added that the reconstituted board should seek a special release of funds from the government to settle the outstanding entitlements of laid-off staff and also allowed former staff interested in rejoining to reapply for vacant positions.
The resolution of the assembly stemmed from a petition by some staff alleging mismanagement of funds and corruption in the club.
Despite this recommendation, The Informant247 learnt that the club’s staff were eventually disengaged under the Kwara State Sports Commission, receiving only peanuts as ‘severance packages’ and never received their entitlements in full.
Some former staff members, who pleaded to remain anonymous, expressed surprise at seeing Jimoh Daudu, the Chairman of the club, still running the affairs of the club despite the dissolution recommended by the state assembly.
“I was owed 22 months’ salary at the time of our dismissal and were only paid N30,000 each,” an official who craved for anonymity said.
The former staff expressed disappointment that the commission did not fully implement the assembly’s resolution.
Kwara Ladies FC poorly managed, lacking accountability
According to some of the staff, the club began receiving support from the state government in 2020 anytime it has programme. In 2020, the team earned promotion from the third-tier women’s league to the second division but was later relegated back in 2021.
According to Ahmed Adeola, a former player and later welfare officer, the main issue hindering the club’s development is the lack of accountability.
“The problem started when we went to a pre-season tournament in March 2022. The Chairman was given N900,000 for the tournament but only released N485,000 to the team. Despite mismanaging funds, the club emerged as tournament champions,” Adeola said.
During the tournament, they learnt of a second-tier slot available for purchase.
Alabi Sunday, the former Chief Security Officer, stated, “We made efforts to buy the slot, borrowing N500,000 from the General Manager. We approached Mr. Daudu to collect N600,000 club funds that was with him then to add to the money we have borrowed so that we could deposit some funds to the seller of the slot but he claimed to have spent it”
Determined to get the slot, the staff claimed to have approached the Kwara State Sport on the issue of the slot and were advised to approach the Ministry of Finance for a loan of N3 million naira under the basis of ‘I owe you’ (IOU) to purchase the slot.
“The Ministry gave us the money on the condition that they will be deducting N500,000 from the monthly subvention until it’s fully paid.
According to Sunday, some of the staff were ready to sacrifice part of their salary for the period of the time that the loan will be repaid while full payment should be given to the players.
“We were keen to keep the players in order to take them to the playoffs. They are a crop of good players and some of them are now even in big clubs and have gotten an invitation to the National team” he added.
After the slot was purchased for N2.7 million naira, the team went for the NWFL playoff in Ijebu-Ode but was unable to secure promotion to the elite division of the women league in Nigeria.
“We were able to maintain the slot and finished third on the log. Our major target is that we should not relegate even if we’re not able to promote” said the former General Manager, Aliyu Muhammed.
He further stated “We believe that if we are able to keep some of these players with the right administration,we would be able to get promotion in the next playoff”
Daudu Accused of Forgery and Lies
In August 2021, some officials claimed that their salaries were not paid, and they took the matter to the Sports Commission.
According to Muhammed, Mr. Daudu later presented a spreadsheet showing how he fraudulently claimed that the salaries for that month were paid.
The former General Manager said, “The Chairman presented a spreadsheet containing forged signatures of some players and officials of the club, including my own signature. He also included the names of some players who had left the club in the spreadsheet and claimed that they were also paid for that month, despite having left the club.”
According to Aliyu, some of the players who had left the club but still had their names on the payment spreadsheet include Oluoma Sharon, Ofoneme Lilian, Ajayi Semilore, Funmilayo Balogun, and Suliyat Busari.
The Chairman was also accused of inflating the figures of virtually all the salaries of the club’s officials and players in contrast to the actual amounts they were all receiving at the time.
“In his dubious attempt to appear righteous, he wrongfully ensured that the spreadsheet equaled the exact amount of the monthly subvention, forgetting that the Ministry of Finance, at that time, was still making monthly deductions for the slot that was bought,” Aliyu analysed.
The former GM noted that Mr. Daudu’s mismanagement of funds prompted the Sports Commission to write to the Ministry of Finance to pay the subvention directly to its account and later took over the payment of salaries to the staff and players.
He added that their salaries were paid until December that year before the Sports Commission directed the team to go on recess.
“We were asked to go on recess probably because of the perennial controversy. Later in 2023, we wrote to the State House of Assembly on the matter and were called to a meeting.”
Mr. Daudu was also accused of owing players’ salaries and handpicking some of his board members who never participated in the club activities.
“We never saw any of the said board members participating in the club activities. We only knew some of them from afar and also got to know some of them during the invitation to the State House of Assembly,” said Ahmed Adeola.
She noted that the reason why some of the players who had played for the club were not motivated to come back is that they were not paid well.
She narrated, “When some of the players came back from the play-offs, some of them who were going to Ibadan or Lagos were given N5000 each, and others who were going further, like Abuja and other states, were given N10,000 with the promise that their July salaries would be sent to them, but out of the 42 players, only twelve players were paid that time”
The Chairman was also accused of exploiting some of the players in the team who were tagged as academy players and were still playing for the senior team but only received N5000 monthly salary.
“As the welfare of the club in May 2022, I paid 42 players then amount of N450,000,” recalled Adeola, who claimed she was owed 17 months’ salary before she was paid N30,000 when she was disengaged.”
In addition to forgery, the chairman was also accused of siphoning the club’s money and claiming to be paying kickbacks to some members of the House of Assembly and government officials, but it was later confirmed to be false.
“One of his dubious ways the Chairman was stealing money is that he would bring some envelopes to us and attach the names of some assembly members and government officials to them, claiming that we had to give them money from the subvention every month. We later discovered that he was not giving them any money when we got to the Assembly during the hearing, as they denied it in his presence,” said Alabi Sunday, the former CSO.
Another official who also wished to remain anonymous due to fear of victimization lamented the way some of them were laid off.
“The situation was really disheartening. I was owed more than a year’s salary and was only invited to the Sports Commission and handed a sack letter by the Secretary. I was asked to provide my account number and was later paid N30,000 as severance. I’m sure that’s what they did for everybody.
“Imagine how one has labored for the team and finally without any notification or meeting they just decided to turn everything upside down,” the official lamented.
“We Want a Better Female Team,” Disengaged Officials Said
According to some of the officials who were disengaged, all they want is a progressive club that is well-run for the purpose of female football development in the state.
“We believe that the state is really blessed with a lot of talents, and the government is willing to help, but the club will not grow if the proper thing is not done in terms of administration,” said Aliyu.
Another former official of the club, Adeyemi Oluwafemi, recalled that he rejected the letter of disengagement.
“I was the only one that refused to collect the money according to the Chairman of the Sports Commission. I rejected the money immediately and dismissed their letter.”
Mr. Daudu refused to comment
Despite several attempts to reach him, Mr. Jimoh Daudu declined to comment on the allegations.
When initially contacted by phone, he cited a personal matter demanding his attention and later did not respond to messages.
During a visit to the football field where the team trained, Mr. Daudu declined an interview, referencing previous unanswered questions.
“You sent some questions to me and I didnt answer it . Is it by force? I don’t have time for any interview” he exclaimed.
Sports commission chairman reacts
In response to the allegations, the Executive Chairman of the Kwara State Sports Commission, Coach Bola Mogaji, claimed the commission did not receive official communication from the Assembly regarding the dissolution of the team’s board.
“We didn’t receive any letter of dissolution from anywhere,” he stated.
Regarding the disengagement of officials, Coach Mogaji argued that most of them lacked official appointment letters.
“Did they even have appointments in the first place? Who appointed them, and what are the terms and conditions of their appointment? We are not aware of any appointments; tell them to bring their appointment letters out,” he emphasized.
He further explained that the commission aims to reorganize the team by retaining only essential personnel until proper measures are in place for future outings.
“We are trying to reorganize the team very well, and what we have done is to keep only the Chairman, Secretary, and financial person (accountant) in charge of the team for now, pending when the club wants to go for a big outing,” Coach Mogaji concluded.