- Clients allege favoritism, company denies allegations, promises reimbursement
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Some of the subscribers of the newly commissioned multimillion naira ultramodern mall in Osogbo, capital of Osun State, have accused an Investment company owned by the state government, Omoluabi Holdings Limited, of shortchanging them and allocating the shops they had paid for to government officials who served during the immediate past administration of Gboyega Oyetola.
The clients, who claimed they are about 80 percent of the total number of persons who paid for the rentage of the lock-up shops, further alleged the company of denying them of the shops and considering the immediate past First Lady of the state, Mrs. Kafayat Oyetola and some appointees of the former governor.
The mall project had been commenced by the company early last year after approval was given by the Oyetola administration. The investment outfit had advertised rentage of the shops after sacking former traders on the land.
It was gathered that the company sold out forms to more than 200 subscribers at the rate of N20, 000 while the shops were advertised for rentage between the rates of N600, 000 and N700, 000. More than 200 interested persons were said to have paid for the two-year rentage of the shops and had been expecting the completion of the mall for them to commence their commercial activities.
The Point had gathered that many people took interest in the mall and subscribed because of its strategic location. It is located at Old Garage area of Osogbo, said to be the heart of commercial activity in the state. This would serve as an added advantage to shop outlet occupants because of the high level of exposure and publicity which in turn guarantees high patronage.
But, hopes of many who subscribed for the shops have been dashed after they were denied the shops despite paying for them for more than one year.
On November 14, 2022, former governor Oyetola inaugurated the mall which he said was aimed at further extending empowerment opportunities to the people and improve on their socioeconomic development.
According to the ex-governor, the concept of the project was first passed to for consideration and approval in August 2020 by the management of Omoluabi Holdings Limited, adding that by last year, the foundation ceremony was flagged off, with a charge on the company to ensure completion in record time.
While commending Omoluabi Holdings Limited for ensuring the timely completion of the project, Oyetola had said, during its commissioning that the mall was originally planned to be four blocks of 176 lockup shops and that additional 18 smaller shops were introduced during the construction period to maximize the available space and business opportunities of the project.
He further disclosed that the Osogbo branch of Unity Bank Plc provided the required finance for the project.
ALLEGED SHORTCHANGE
Many of the subscribers have cried out over alleged shortchange by the company and that the process was politicized. While some of the affected clients said politicians and government officials were mostly considered in the allocation of the shops to the denial of non-politicians, others claimed that some agents got the shops and were re-selling them at higher rates to those who had earlier paid and others who developed interest after the construction.
“I am a subscriber, I paid N700, 000 for rent for two years. I paid on November 1, 2021, and I was not given any shop. No cogent excuse was given to me. I have been to their office on several occasions but no one has given me any cogent explanation. I need my money. I am not waiting for any second phase. I am number 40 on the list of the people that paid”
In an interview with The Point, one of the subscribers, who simply identified herself as Mrs. Adeleye, accused the company of giving the shops to Oyetola’s wife and her cronies.
She said, “I paid for the ground floor of the shop at the rate of N700, 000 after paying N20, 000 for the form. I am one of the traders in the area but when this company came, they asked us to leave because they want to rebuild it. Most of us made efforts to get the money even though we felt it was on the high side because we don’t have any other place to go.
“But, we are shocked to discover that most of us who paid didn’t get any shop. I heard from reliable sources that Oyetola’s wife got more shops and shared them to her supporters. Most of the people who got shops there are from one notable politician in the All Progressives Congress or a former government appointment under the administration of Oyetola. We need justice. I need the refund of my money and we are not getting any information as regards that,” she alleged.
Another subscriber, Rotimi Williams Onorinde, said he paid N700, 000 for the shop and also paid N20, 000 for the form, lamenting that he was denied the shop. He demanded a refund of his money with interest.
Onorinde said, “I made my payment in November last year. I paid N700, 000 for the shop and N20, 000 for the form. That was N720, 000 in total. After the commissioning of the project, I called Dr. Faleye (the Managing Director of Omoluabi Holdings) that I have not been given a key to my own slot but he talked to me rudely that I should get off the phone. He said there is no shop anymore. I called him again three days after on when I will get my money. He said we should be patient that there is another phase two coming. Again, he got off the phone on me. So, I now spoke with Susan, the marketer who gave me the form and she didn’t pick calls anymore. That was when I know that I was in trouble and I need to find something to do.
“They said the project will be ready early this year. I always meet Dr. Faleye and he told me that by the time the project was completed, I would get my slot. But I didn’t get it. It was later I heard that they were giving the shops to some people who will now resell them in higher amounts between N800,000 and N1 million.
“I don’t think I can wait anymore because it’s over a year now. There is no space for the second phase there. They should return my money with interest. Dr. Faleye has just been making watery excuses,” he added.
Speaking on behalf of his wife, C. M. Famurewa and daughter who subscribed for two shops at the mall, Professor Oladiran Famurewa, bemoaned the depravity and threatened to sue the company.
Famurewa said, “We paid in early August 2021. We paid twice, one on the 4th of August and another on the 10th. We informed our daughter who was also willing to invest and she instantly sent her own payment which was made on the 14th of August, 2021. One was N700, 000 for the lower base called first floor and the other one N600, 000 located upstairs.
“We kept monitoring and they will tell us that we will call on you when it’s time. But, all of a sudden, we heard that they had fixed everything up and then I went to see one Dr. Tunde Faleye. He said I ought to have come earlier. About two weeks ago, he said there was nothing he could do.
“There was no detailed discussion about how we can get a slot in the project. We thought there could have been a system on how people who subscribed would get slots. If you have an oversubscription, I think it’s bad because you know how many shops you are going to build. Except you are making business with it and if you are making business with it, then you put some people in a disadvantaged position and you must be ready to face the consequences of what will come with it. You have to face litigation.
“You (Faleye) never told us to come at a particular time. You have our contacts but you didn’t call us. We were the ones following up by visiting the site even during construction. What they told us was that the project will be completed early this year. There is a water factory there and because of that, I started visiting the place to buy water in order to keep an eye on the project.
“Dr. Faleye said he would give me one shop, upstairs. He called someone and told the person to leave one for me. So, when we were at the shop, those who were there asked me of the shop number and I told them that Dr. Faleye only told me to go and get one by word of mouth, but they said it’s not done that way and that he ought to have given me a shop number and they said there is no shop for me.”
On the number of people affected, he said, “close to 70 or 80 percent of those who paid for the shops were affected. From what I heard, someone who was not given a shop threatened to burn down the place before he was given one.
“We were not told anything about the second phase and I am not ready to wait for it. I am going to sue the company immediately unless they give me money with interest because they have traded with it. What I paid last year is not the same value as today. They have taken us for granted for too long and this is not good for the image of Osun State.
“My daughter has already bought all the materials she would be putting in the shop and now that one is not sure again. Capital tied down. I didn’t subscribe late. Let them bring out the list of those who subscribed. In the advert, they never said that there was going to be a second phase.”
Also, another client, Yinka Olobide, said, “I am a subscriber, I paid N700, 000 for rent for two years. I paid on November 1, 2021, and I was not given any shop. No cogent excuse was given to me. I have been to their office on several occasions but no one has given me any cogent explanation. I need my money. I am not waiting for any second phase. I am number 40 on the list of the people that paid.”
Another affected person who identified himself as Oluwatoyin, said, “I paid for my wife and younger sister. I paid N700, 000 for each of them. I paid in February 2021 and February 2022. None was given to us. The allocation of the shops has been politicized because most of the people who got in are government officials and politicians,” he claimed.
ALLOCATION NOT POLITICISED, EFFORTS ON TO RETURN MONEY – COMPANY
Reacting, the Managing Director, Omoluabi Holdings Limited, Dr. Tunde Faleye, debunked allocating the shops to Oyetola’s wife or government officials, saying that the problem was that there was over subscription for the mall.
Faleye urged for patience and assured them that their money would be repaid. He said the process of repayment was affected by the freezing of the state government account by the new governor, Ademola Adeleke.
“We have already started compiling the names of people that we will refund their money. The process would have been earlier than this if not for the embargo that was placed on the government account by the present administration. The project was heavily oversubscribed; as a result, we are looking at how we can satisfy the majority of the people. As we speak, we have over 200 subscribers who showed their interest for the 168 lock-up shops there. Having been able to meet the request of 168 people, we are making efforts at refunding others. Anybody who is saying where they gave him is not convenient for what he wants to do, we are making a process to refund them. In no time, they will start getting their refunds.
“We have written concerning the lifting of a ban on operations on government accounts because it affected Omoluabi Holdings as well. The money we want to refund them with is available but I can’t give a specific time as to when they will get it,” he said.
Responding to allegations that most of the shops were given to Oyetola’s wife, party chieftains and government officials, Faleye said, “Government officials have no stake in the shops, subscribers were the people who got them. There is this rumour going round that the Governor’s wife is this and that, before God and man, the Governor’s wife (Kafayat) doesn’t have a single shop in that place. The first thing we did when we finished the shop was to make sure that it was on a first-come, first-served basis according to when they paid.
“We are about to commence the construction of the second phase and I have told them that if they can wait, they will get slots thereafter construction. The governor (Oyetola) also said when he was commissioning the project that there would be a second phase. So, it is baseless and a rumour that it was given to government officials.
There was no government official that was given any special consideration except if you have one or two of them that subscribed from the onset.
“I will just enjoin them to exercise a little patience with us, at the end, they will be satisfied. We have about four to six months for the completion of the second phase,” he said.
