Nigeria: Inside Details of N1.6 Billion Training Fraud Charges Against TETFund Contractors

30 January 2025

In separate cases filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the ICPC accused the contractors of fraudulent diversion of funds meant for the execution of multi-billion-naira training contracts awarded by the agency.

After quizzing them between May and September last year, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) charged two individuals and their companies with fraud and money laundering in a series of contracts awarded by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), PREMIUM TIMES reported.

In separate cases filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the ICPC accused them of fraudulent diversion of funds meant for the execution of multi-billion-naira training contracts awarded to them by the agency.

The contractors are Paul Chukwuma, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Fides Et Ratio Academy Ltd and Adedeji Ladipo, the Managing Director and the CEO of Pole Global Marketing Limited.'

PREMIUM TIMES has now obtained exclusive documents on the details of the contracts, the processes leading to their awards and the Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between TETFund and the contractors.

Our reporting is also based on the review of specific charges, evidence gathered by the ICPC, including bank statements of the accused, and extrajudicial statements from beneficiary tertiary institutions, saying the contractors did not deliver on the jobs.

The cases

PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported that both individuals were accused of concealing the origin of the funds, withdrawing parts of the money and converting some of it to foreign currencies in a money laundering scheme that allegedly robbed TEFTFund of over N1.6 billion.

In the indictments seen by the newspaper, the ICPC said the defendants' actions violated the provisions of section 18 of the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Act (2022).

While Mr Chukwuma of Fides Et Ratio is charged with nine counts, Mr Ladipo is charged with four.

If found guilty by the court, Messrs Chukwuma and Ladipo are looking at a sentence of not less than four years imprisonment or a fine "not less than five times the value of the proceeds of the crime or both," according to the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Act (2022) under which they were charged.

2 million students, 502 staff members for training

On 18 May 2023, TETFund signed an MoU with Klaus Stierstrorfer, a professor, and Fides Et Ratio Academy. The MoU described Mr Stierstorferss as the intellectual property right holder "in all range of communication skills and development courses marketed under Edunet Solutions." The MoU stated that Mr Stierstorfer would provide communication skills training to TETFund beneficiaries through Fides Et Ratio Academy.

Days later, on 22 May 2023, TETFund wrote Fides Et Ratio Academy, informing it of the approval of a proposal for a capacity-building course for 2 million students drawn from 251 Nigerian tertiary institutions as well as the training-of-trainers for 502 members of staff of the benefitting institutions.

According to the letter assigned by TETFund Director of Human Resources and General Administration, Okunlola Kolapo, the students would be trained in developing entrepreneurship skills, communication and employability skills, and capacity building. At the same time, the tertiary institutions' staff members would participate in a training of trainers on basic and advanced ICT skills "needed for a successful teaching and learning process."

According to the letter seen by this newspaper, while students were to be trained online, tertiary institutions' staff members were to be trained physically.

Out of the 2 million participating students, 1 million would be drawn from the universities, while polytechnics and colleges of education would contribute 500,000 each.

According to the TETFund letter, the approved cost was N1,536 per student, amounting to N3 billion; N1,475,099.60 each for the 502 tertiary institution staff members, amounting to N740.5 million; and the cost of training students and the institutions' staff members totalled N3.8 billion.

A PREMIUM TIMES investigation revealed how TETFund deducted the funds for this training from the tertiary institutions' 2023 annual disbursement against the wishes of the selected institutions.

The report revealed that though Fides Et Ratio Academy was paid N2.9 billion out of the N3.8 billion in four instalments between June and November 2023, there was no evidence that the training had been conducted as of April 2024.

After the PREMIUM TIMES story in April, the ICPC interrogated senior officials of the Fund, including Gloria Olotu, the Director of Finance and Accounts; Kolapo Okunola, the Director of Human Resources and General Administration at TETFUND; and Joseph Odo, the agency's Director of Information Communication Technology (ICT).

The ICPC also interrogated Mr Chukwuma two months later in June. In September, the anti-graft agency preferred a nine-count charge against him in court.

Charges against Chukwuma of Fides Et Ratio

In the first to sixth counts against Mr Chukwuma, the ICPC accused him of diverting over N69 million meant for training students from various tertiary institutions.

The ICPC indictment alleges specifically that Mr Chukwuma diverted:

  • N10.8 million for the training of 7,042 students of the Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State;
  • N10.8 million for training 7,042 students of the Federal College of Education, Gidan Madi, Sokoto State;
  • N9.2 million for the training of 6,329 students of the Federal Polytechnic, Bali, Taraba State;
  • N9.2 million for the training of 6,329 students of the Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic, Sokoto, Sokoto State;
  • N14.4 million for the training of 6,329 students of Ignatius Agwu University of Education, Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, and
  • N14.4 million for the training of 6,329 students of Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri, Imo State.

In the seventh count, the ICPC accused him of using the funds for the training to purchase a N300 million Mercedes Benz GLS 600 Maybach.

The eighth count also accused him of using part of the funds for the training to purchase a N300 million Mercedes Benz GLS 600 Maybach.

In the ninth count, the prosecution accused Mr Chukwuma of converting over N139 million of the training funds into US dollars in an attempt to conceal the fund's origin.

Evidence gathered

The ICPC has lined up 10 witnesses to testify against Mr Chukwuma and his firm when his trial starts.

In addition, the anti-corruption agency obtained extrajudicial statements from the heads of the information and communications departments of four benefitting tertiary institutions, who all noted that their staff and students were not trained as part of the contract.

The ICPC has also obtained the bank statement for the Fidelity Bank account operated by Fides Et Ratio and has lined up an official of the bank as one of its prosecution witnesses.

The anti-graft agency has also obtained the extrajudicial statement of Ngozi Nneji, through whom Mr Chuwkwuma allegedly converted over N450 million of the contract funds to euros and US dollars.

In separate extrajudicial statements to the ICPC, the heads of the information and communication departments at Ignatius Agwu University of Education, Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic, Sokoto, and the Federal Polytechnic Bali stated that no staff member or student of their respective institutions participated in the training as contained in the contract awarded to the company.

In a statement he wrote on 23 May 2024, Ojelundo Nathaniel, the ICT director at the Ignatius Agwu University of Education, said none of the institution's students or staff members have participated in any training under the project.

He explained that there was a "training at Landmark Hotels for South-South ICT directors and their deputies but cannot tie it to the organisers but (was) sponsored by TETFund."

He stated that 12 staff members were nominated for the workshop, and "they have not been invited yet".

"No students have been trained also. No staff and students have been enrolled on the Blackboard," he wrote in the statement seen by PREMIUM TIMES.

Emelike Chinaemedele, the ICT director at the Federal University of Education Owerri, noted that they were informed about upcoming training for university staff and onboard students.

"As of today, 20 May 2024, no such training has commenced, and no staff or student has been onboard," he wrote in a statement dated 20 May 2024.

"In respect of Edunet educational services, concerning communication skills and entrepreneurship, TETFUND has not asked my school to submit a list of staff and students for training and we have not forwarded any such list to TETfund."

In her statement dated 17 May 2024, Mrs Nneji noted that she had, on multiple occasions, received money from Mr Chukwuma, converted it to foreign currencies, and delivered it to him in cash.

On 27 July, she used her company, Zimmy International Ventures, to help Mr Chukwuma convert N48 million to Euros and deliver the foreign currency to him in cash.

On 7 July 2023, Mrs Nneji received N39.7 million from Fides Et Ratio Academy Ltd and used N31 million to purchase $40,000 US dollars, which she delivered to Mr Chukwuma in cash.

On 11 September 2023, she helped Mr Chukwuma convert N225 million into dollars through Kazo Nazo Global Concept (a company not owned by her). "When the naira was converted to dollars, I collected it and gave it to Sir Paul Chukwuma. I also negotiated the rate with Sir Paul Chukwuma before he made the transfer," she wrote on 17 May 2024, explaining that he deposited the money in three tranches of N75 million each.

On 17 July 2023, she received another N100 million from Fides Et Ratio Academy Ltd in two tranches of N50 million each.

"All the time he bought these currencies, I delivered to him in person," she added.

Chukwuma responds to allegations

The ICPC investigators quizzed Mr Chukwuma at their office about seven times between June and September 2024. Copies of his statements seen by this newspaper show that he wrote them on 4 June, 16 July, 17 July, 18 July, 21 August, 2 September and 6 September.

In his first statement, dated 4 June, Mr Chukwuma stated that over 2 million students have successfully onboarded the Fides Et Ration Academy learning management database.

He said the online communication course licensed by Klaus Stierstrorfer, a professor, had not been paid for.

He admitted converting part of the money to foreign currency and using it for his company's other revenue-generating operations ahead of the payments to Mr Stierstrorfer/Edunet.

"We are to pay the license fee per student onboarded on the FERA LMS to Prof Klaus, and the details of these fees are contained in our licence implementation agreement," he wrote on 6 April 2024.

"The currency transaction is naira, and we are expected to convert to euros at the approved forex rate to pay for the licence fees per student to Prof Kalus/Edunet. The forex change was not enough for the payment of the licence fees and our agreement was to pay the fees in bulk within a period of 12 months after the moratorium period. Hence, waiting for the balance of the payment to be made and since we still have enough time to fulfil our obligation, the forex changes were applied to other revenue generating needs of the company and the group generally," he wrote.

Mr Chukwuma said the Mercedes Benz purchased was for the company (Fides Et Ratio Academy). "Also, only the euros changed at the parallel market were used by the company since the bulk of the money changed for the license payment were changed into dollars," he wrote on 16 July.

Contract 2: Mr Ladipo of Pole Global Marketing Limited

On 2 June 2023, TETFund approved a "proposal for capacity development and implementation of blackboard" for execution by Pole Global Marketing (PGM).

In a letter signed by TETFund's Director, Human Resources and General Administration, Okunlola Kolapo, PGM was tasked with the technical works for Blackboard and the training of 2,510 ICT staff members of the beneficiary institutions -10 each from 251 beneficiary institutions. The figure was reduced to 2,310, as seen in subsequent letters between the two organisations.

According to documents reviewed by this newspaper, the contract arose from a May 2023 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between TETFund and Blackboard International BV (Anthology) in collaboration with PGM-Anthology's authorised partner in Nigeria.

The MoU laid the foundation for a five-year renewable licensing of Blackboard, a learning management system (LMS) developed and licensed by Anthology, to TETFund on behalf of its beneficiary institutions.

Blackboard is a learning management system that facilitates online learning between teachers and students.

According to the MoU, the software cost was $2.90 per student, amounting to $5.8 million for all participating students.

However, TETFund's letter to PGM denominated the amounts in naira at N1278.75 per student, with the 2 million expected beneficiaries totalling N2.557 billion.

The project was divided into two parts: purchasing and installing the Blackboard software and training 2,310 ICT staff members of the beneficiary institutions, each at the cost of N500,000, totalling N1.1 billion.

The letter said the first payment of 85 per cent would be made upon successful take-off of the project confirmation of enrolment of participants on the Anthology (Blackboard) and PGM local Hub and submission of a detailed progress report showing progress on the project deliverables.

It added that the second and final payment of 15 per cent would be made after the programme is completed and a detailed report on the training is submitted to the Executive Secretary.

Payments

On 15 June, TETFund wrote to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), asking it to pay $4.248 million to Blackboard International's Bank of America account.

"The request is for the payment for capacity development and technical works and training of blackboard learn tools in the 251 beneficiary institutions (the payment details are attached as an appendix)," the letter, signed by the Director of Finance and Investment, Gloria Olotu, reads.

On 21 July, TETFund paid N948 million to PGM as 85 per cent of the payment for the second category of the project, which is the training of the 2,310 ICT staff members of the beneficiary institutions.

In the request for the 85 per cent initial payment, PGM submitted a progress report to TETFund.

In a copy of an internal memo for processing the payment, TETFund noted that "the vendor has met the conditions for part-payment having confirmed the successful take-off of the project, enrolment of participants on the Anthology (Blackboard) and PGM local hub and submission of a detailed progress report showing progress on the project deliverable."

The progress report showed that TETFund made available $4.248 million for the purchase of a software licence and that the vendor commenced the creation of the Blackboard/TETFund site.

It added, "A monitoring system, Zendesk, has been deployed and is being utilised by the vendor for project monitoring and control. The list of local partners for field onboarding at BIs (beneficiary institutions) has been compiled and ready for boot camp training by the vendor as agreed by the Fund."

Charges against Ladipo of Pole Global Marketing Limited

In the first of the four counts against Mr Ladipo, the ICPC accused him of converting N119 million meant for the physical training of 2,239 persons on behalf of TETFund into US dollars without training the supposed beneficiaries.

In the second charge, the ICPC accused him of diverting N34.6 million meant for the physical training of 2,239 persons on behalf of TETFund into US dollars without training the supposed beneficiaries.

In the third count, the ICPC accused him of diverting N20.5 million meant for the physical training of 2,239 persons on behalf of TETFund into US dollars without training the supposed beneficiaries.

In the fourth count, the anti-graft agency accused him of taking control of N808.3 million through the bank account of Pole Global Marking Limited, converted the sum into US dollars and "dissipated same without training the said number of participants."

Evidence gathered

To prove its case, ICPC and listed proposed witnesses that include ICPC investigators, TETFund Director of Finance and Accounts, Gloria Olotu, and a representative of Providus Bank, which the company has an account with, to testify in court.

However, the written statement ICPC obtained from TETFund's director of finance and accounts, Ms Olotu, appeared to see nothing wrong in the deal with Mr Ladipo's company.

In her statement, Ms Olotu argued that the project awarded to PGM was not a contract and, therefore, not subject to the Procurement Act.

She likened the payments to Blackboard to tuition fees, which are part of the Fund's Academic Staff Training and Development programmes as provided in section 7 of the TETFund Act.

"They are therefore regarded as disbursements towards the said mandate and not contracts," she wrote in a statement dated 25 April 2024, likening it to tuition fee payment to institutions abroad on behalf of beneficiary institutions.

"If TETFund were to have sent the money to the 260 institutions, the training per institution would come to N14,607,279.69 each, and they would have paid to the service provider or academic not as a contract but as tuition fees just as they would have done to any oversea trainer..., Blackboard International being the only provider of this resource."

In subsequent statements she wrote at the ICPC office on 30 April, Ms Olotu stated that she did not take part in conceptualising the project and signing an MoU with the companies.

She stated that she was not the Accounting Officer of TETFund and was not the approving authority, adding that the payments were made based on the approvals from the office of the executive secretary.

She wrote, "I did not take part in the conceptualisation of the two projects in question, and I was not privy to the negotiations or the memorandum of understanding entered into," she wrote.

"I did not sign the MoU or Award letter. Also, I am not an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) expert, so I am not apprised of the details of the project. The payments were made based on the approval of the executive secretary and also based on the honourable minister of education approval that part of the ICT support allocation of the beneficiaries be used to pay for the converged services."

Ladipo's defence

Documents reviewed by this newspaper show that Mr Ladipo visited the ICPC headquarters to write statements at least five times between June and September 2024. He wrote the statements on 21 June, 30 August, 3 September, 10 September, and 11 September.

In one of his statements, Mr Ladipo noted that though the project was supposed to be concluded in a year, certain challenges made it linger beyond the anticipated completion date.

He said the TETFund's project management office was duly informed about the challenge which resulted from "data quality from TETFund".

He added that the 251 directors of information communication and technology of TETFund beneficiary institutions and 26 local information technology partners were to receive further training, making the total trained persons 277.

"Based on the letter sent by TETFund, the duration is to be for 12 months under the terms," he wrote in a statement dated 21 June.

"However, based on the requirements to execute, time has elapsed, and the PMO has been cautioned on this, and PGM/Anthology were told numerously that based on the MoU of cumulative 5 years, we are to maintain the status quo and continue in line with the PMO. As of today, TETFund has not sent in the updated MoU in line with the initially agreed one."

In the 30 August statement, Mr Ladipo stated that over 300 people have been physically trained after their nominations by their respective institutions as directed by TETFund.

He also explained in the statements that the funds expended were part of the project implementation. He stated, for instance, that N18.6 million had been paid as per diem to some beneficiaries of the physical training. He listed other expenses as office renovations, remunerations and associated expenses.

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