Initiated to provide mass housing to Nigerian workers, the NLC, Kriston-Lally housing scheme has been hit by massive allegations of fraud. As the controversy continues, subscribers are left wondering when they will get a refund of their money. MICHAEL OCHE writesWhat began as a laudable housing arrangement between the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Kriston-Lally EPC Nigeria Limited, a private property developer to build affordable housing estates for Nigerian workers in all the 36 states including the FCT has gone sour as subscribers to the scheme are crying foul over non remittance of the money they paid to own houses in the failed deal.Despite assurances from the NLC and Kriston-Lally, subscribers are concerned about when to get a refund of the funds.Last week, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) after its Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting, constituted a committee on the NLC-Kriston-Lally Housing project with a view to fast-tracking the process of refunds to subscribers.As the controversy rages on, at least, N2.6 billion belonging to 3,090 subscribers have been trapped.Some subscribers who spoke to our reporter said when they responded to public advertisements by the NLC inviting prospective home owners to buy into the NLC, Kriston-Lally housing scheme, their desire was a roof over their heads and what they could call their own. With NLC’s pedigree and assurance, thousands staked their fortunes.Today, the hopes of thousands of subscribers have dissolved into despair. No appeal by the central labour leadership for their patience would assuage their pains. Their concern is one: how their investments, most of which came from their life-savings, could be recovered.At the onset, the advert seems inviting. Subscribers were to apply for the various house types which attracted different price tags, ranging from N4.6 million for one to two-bedroom detached and semi-detached bungalows, to N6.5 million for three-bedroom bungalows, and N18.5 million for four-bedroom fully detached bungalows.Subscription for each of the house types, which also included supporting infrastructure – roads, electricity, water, and other ancillary facilities — was to follow a repayment plan spanning 5 to 15 years at a fixed interest rate of two per cent per annum.Phase 1 of the project was for 100,000 units of houses to be completed by June 2014, for owners to take possession by latest December 2014. Another 200,000 units to be delivered on or before June 30, 2015.The subscription process was simple. Prospective subscribers were to pick up the application forms and collect a personal identification number, PIN, after the payment of a non-refundable fee of N5,000 into the NLC-Kriston-Lally EPC Project Account No. 1013399671 at Zenith Bank branches nationwide.The subscriber would use the PIN issued by the bank to log online and complete the subscription form. After the payment of 10 per cent of the total value of the interested house type into the designated account, subscribers were issued official receipts at the presentation of the bank teller.Besides, an invoice was also issued for the balance of 90 per cent, with a repayment chart, endorsement form and offer letter as well as formal contract as a subscriber.The controversyDespite the assurances by both the NLC and Kriston-Lally that all was well in their partnership, the project did not come to fruition. Workers therefore demanded refund of their stakes. This too became a knotty issue.First, the NLC went to town accusing the developer of trying to divert the subscribers’ money to a different account.Former NLC president Abdulwahed Omar accused the developer of deceiving the workers that subscribed to the housing estate to pay into another bank account operated by him despite the directive from the union stopping him from further collection of money from them because he had not performed up to expectation in the housing deal.The developer, however, shot back at the NLC, insisting that it was the NLC that was after all working to frustrate its efforts to refund the about 3,800 workers that paid for the houses.LatestKriston Lally EPC said it had filed a suit at a Federal High Court, Abuja, against the NLC seeking the order of the court to appoint a third party to handle the refund of subscribers’ funds as against what it said are ‘illegal ways undertaken by the NLC.’Madawaki assured that the refunding process would commence as soon as the Federal High Court makes a pronouncement on the setting up of a third party to supervise the refund of subscribers’ funds.The managing director of Kriston-Lally, Madawaki decried the NLC’s insistence to superintend the refund process even as he indicated his company’s readiness to refund subscribers’ money, noting that it has set up a unit in his office to facilitate the process.He said, “After a careful consideration of NLC’s continuous mischief, we decided that we shall seek justice from a court of competent jurisdiction and further ask the court to appoint an independent body to distribute subscribers funds back to them. We can no longer trust NLC since the President (former) went on air and told the nation that he was not aware of the interest that accrued on the subscribers deposit when there are documents to prove same. This account must have generated close to N200 million. They may have also included fictitious names to cover up the interest, thus jeopardising the safety of subscribers’ funds.”Is Kriston-Lally at large?The NLC said in spite of the agreement reached with Kriston-Lally for the refund of subscribers funds, Mr Madawaki, in whose custody all instruments relating to the transaction, including the cheque books and details of all the dealings with the banks are, failed to show up, stalling the entire refund process.Processing subscribers’ documents had actually commenced as agreed, till when Mr Madawaki was invited to sign the relevant instruments to the bank for the transfer of some money from Zenith Bank to Access Bank for payment to commence.After more than three weeks, frustrated, the NLC, which was becoming inundated with protests by anxious subscribers, said it wrote to the DSS on December 19, 2014 to draw its attention to the sudden disappearance of Mr Madawaki.“We are anxious to have the refunds effected. But, we cannot do so, because we are not holding the money. Until we get Kriston-Lally to cooperate with us, there is little we can do. That is why we are asking the DSS to intervene expeditiously,” Mr Ozo-Eson, NLC secretary general said on Wednesday.What’s the latest?Kriston Lally EPC said it had filed a suit at a Federal High Court, Abuja, against the NLC seeking the order of the court to appoint a third party to handle the refund of subscribers’ funds as against what it said are ‘illegal ways undertaken by the NLC.’Madawaki assured that the refunding process would commence as soon as the Federal High Court makes a pronouncement on the setting up of a third party to supervise the refund of subscribers’ funds.