Dissolution of Odu’a Board- Why GMD Adewale Raji must go
The imbroglio in Odu’a commenced in 2014 when Adewale Raji resumed as the Group Managing Director. He is a 1985 graduate of History from University of Jos and was in charge of distribution for 28 years at PZ Plc with low knowledge in Finance, Investment and Accounting. This background was responsible for his low understanding of Corporate Governance and relationship management. It was a disaster for such a man to head an investment company. Mr. Raji has been having running battle with all the Chairmen who had worked with him since 2014 to the extent that one of them, Chief Isaac Akintade x-rayed his level of incompetence and fraudulent activities in a paid advertorial of the Nation of April 20, 2017 which was never investigated by the Governors of the Owner States. Adewale Raji promised to achieve a Turnover of N20 billion in his first term of 5 years, but at the end of 2019, the Turnover of the Group was N4 billion as it was in 2014 when he resumed. He paid out over N1 billion as consultancy fee to KPMG for various assignments that were never completed in the last five years. This informed the support he had from the KPMG to influence the Owner States Governors for approving the second term without any achievements to show. He abandoned his statutory jobs and opted to be moving from one Governor’s office of the owners’ states to the other for one thing or the other. He met cash balance of over N200 million in 2014 and as at the end of 2019, the company was in debt because of various unsuccessful projects he embarked upon since 2014. Mr Adewale Raji set up a company known as Todo Construction in 2015, and spent over N165 million, yet the company collapsed in 2017 and equally spent N200 million to plant Tomato in 2017, where no single Tomato was harvested. He was also involved at window dressing financial Statements in order to present rosy pictures to the Governors. This is part of the area that the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria shall investigate through Court order. He sacked top Management in 2014 and brought in less qualified personnel who are his friends as management staff, using KPMG as a cover up.
Besides this, Adewale Raji whose annual salary is more than the turnover of some of the subsidiaries remains the only staff collecting bonus on artificial profit without bringing additional income or new businesses to the conglomerate but using dividend paid to owner states as yard stick for performance and thereafter used overdraft to pay salaries to workers.
When Engr. Sola Akinwumi became the Chairman in December, 2017, he requested for the blueprint on how the moribund companies could be revived, and reducing expenses on consultancy without any results nothing was released to him. Mr Adewale Raji who had no clue to turnaround the conglomerate moved to divide the Board by taking care of two of the Board members who always support him even if it is glaring that he was wrong. One of the two board members took Adewale Raji to one of the Owner States Governor for help so that he could secure second term and promised the Governor a landed property at Alakia, Ibadan. This facilitated the intended renewal of Adewale Raji’s tenure by the governors without passing through the normal and statutory channel recognised at law despite abysmal performances. However, this did not see the light of the day. Mr. Adewale Raji is a deceit as substantiated by his publication of January 20, 2020 claiming that the Board of Directors had renewed his term.
The tenure of Adewale Raji has been riddled with crisis since 2014 which forced some notable citizen of Yoruba Nation to approach the court by exposing Adewale Raji’s fraudulent activities and gross incompetence. This is aimed at bringing sanity to the conglomerate, since Political Class seems not to be interested in its survival.
