Akeem Nafiu 
The Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN) has petitioned the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 2 Command in Lagos seeking a probe of its suspended President, Fasasi Sarafadeen Atanda, over allegations of fraud.
In the petition received by the police on 4th November 2024, AMMBAN outlined how Atanda used his office to enrich himself, saying he had been suspended to pave the way for an unfettered investigation.
In the five-paragraph petition sent to the AIG, AMMBAN alleged that the suspended president has been diverting monies meant for the association to his personal use.
AMMBAN also urged the police to look beyond the fraud allegations, and also investigate the several breaches of extant laws and regulations, such as CAMA, allegedly perpetrated by Atanda.
The petition reads: “It has come to our attention that the President has been receiving Association funds directly into his personal/corporate bank account, an action directly violating Article 23.2 of the Association Bye-Laws, which mandates that all funds must be maintained in the Association’s official accounts
“This deliberate disregard for the established financial protocols of AMMBAN constitutes serious mismanagement of Association resources and poses substantial risks to financial accountability.
“Atanda’s suspension, which was effected by members of the Association’s BoT became imperative when he kept parading himself as the substantive president, and was hoodwinking members who did not know that he was diverting their payments away from the official payment channels of the Association.
“This blatant misrepresentation is a significant breach of trust and accountability to members and stakeholders of AMMBAN. Such actions are incompatible with the fiduciary duties of transparency and integrity that the President is obligated to uphold”.
In the meantime, AMMBAN BoT has appointed Dr. Obioha Otti as acting President, in accordance with the bylaws of the Association. Until his appointment, Dr. Otti was Vice President 1 of AMMBAN.
In his acceptance speech, Dr Otti assured members of AMMBAN of the stability of their Association, and that he would work round the clock to ensure that the association moves forward as one indivisible and big family.
“We in AMMBAN NEC and SEC of the BoT are carefully studying the activities of Mr. Fasasi and I can assure you that something is being done about it.
We are only doing our best to ensure that we exhaust all avenues of ensuring that we conform to all our AMMBAN rules and regulations and also the laws of the country”, he said.
