The President of the Nigerian community in the United Kingdom on Twitter (X), Mr Benjamin Kuti, aka Oluomo of Derby, has decided to step down from his role as the leader of the community.
The social media group is made up of over 75,000 Nigerians many of whom are in different parts of the UK and sometimes hold offline meetings and celebrations.
Oluomo of Derby quit as the president of the community after a barrage of criticisms from members following the running of the group and handling of finances.
Aside from Kuti, other group leaders also revealed their intentions to step down from their posts.
Among those who were affected were DHK Rullah and Idris Ayinde.
Oluomo of Derby, who founded the group, and other leaders wrote on Thursday about the decisions to tender their resignations via their respective X pages.
Accepting shortcomings
Mr Kuti, in his post, said he would be glad to hand over to the next elected leader, adding that he took responsibility for all that went down in the community.
“I take full responsibility for the turn of events over the years, and the current unsettling state of the community,” he wrote. “I will be stepping down as a moderator and all posts made with the official handle will be at the approval of the NEB.”
“I regret my lack of absolute accountability and transparency to the community and to this end, I have carefully thought the following decisions through in the interest of furthering our community’s goals.”
He added, “I am happy to hand over the presidency of the community to the next elected President at the chosen time of the community to conduct its elections. However, as the founder of the community, will remain a PSC of the company.”
Also, Ayinde said he had resigned from his position as a volunteer consultant.
He added, “The executives/directors are responsible for preparing the financial statements that give a true and fair view of the state of affairs and activities of the company/community.
t“Having completed the submission of the financial statements and tax filing for the community for the period of 22/11/2022 to 30/11/2023 and 1/12/2023 to 31/12/2024, I hereby tender my resignation from the volunteer consultant role with immediate effect as my job is now done!”
Rullah accepted his responsibility as he vowed to refund all the money he “received”.
“I want you to know that I take full responsibility for my actions. I understand that my mistakes have consequences and as a tangible demonstration of my commitment to making amends I am going to make full refunds of the total monies I received,” he said.
“This will be paid in installments back into the NIUK official account and can be confirmed by anyone when this is done. It is the least I can do to show my remorse and dedication to rectifying the harm caused.”
Allegations
Nigerians in the UK Twitter community had alleged financial infractions in the community’s operations and called on the leaders to be held accountable.
According to them, the expenditure moved from £9,440.41 in 2023 to £68,224.11 in 2024.
In the account balance posted, the community realised £36,035.55 for 2023 and £2,997.00 sponsorship/partnership and donations in 2024.
For the end of the year party in 2023, it spent £7,225.65, while it was £5,061.00 for 2024. It also quoted £5,350.00 for community support/donations in 2023, while £813.65 for the same in 2024.
Most of these gaps further drove the members to question the authenticity of the account balance.
For instance, one Ola Dayo on X asked, “How did expenditure go from £9,440.41 in 2023 to £68,224.11 in 2024?”
The member added, “Why is there a 2023 December end-of-year party expenditure in the 2024 account?”
He also demanded what constituted other administrative expenses as outlined in the account.
Another member, identified as Rire, who was disgruntled over the development, asked that the community account on X be deleted.
Due to the alleged malfeasance, some of the leaders have protected their posts, as members continued to demand answers about the released income and expenses account balances in the past two years.
Despite the resignation of some of the leaders, more members of the community were not satisfied as they questioned the sincerity of the decisions. (Punch)
