By joshua
Council says Mopa Development Association received donation from Leke Abejide Foundation, cites ongoing hospital project
The Mopa Traditional Council has disowned a faction of the Mopa Welfare Society led by Abe, describing it as a group that allegedly hijacked the society’s name and challenging its legitimacy to represent the entire Mopa community.
The council made its position known in a rejoinder addressed to Hon. Leke Abejide at the National Assembly, Abuja, through the Leke Abejide Foundation, in response to an open letter by the Abe-led faction concerning a development fund and a court case involving the society.
In the rejoinder, the council alleged that the faction emerged about two years ago when a group of individuals registered the name “Mopa Welfare Society” with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), appointed themselves as members of the Board of Trustees and altered the society’s constitution without the broader community’s consent.
According to the council, objections were raised against the registration, while disagreements over the society’s leadership, the Mopa traditional institution and community assets reportedly resulted in litigation between rival factions.
The council further claimed that the court proceedings upheld the status quo, arguing that the dispute made it inappropriate for either faction to claim exclusive authority to represent the entire Mopa community.
Consequently, the traditional council said the community decided to discontinue its engagement with the two factions and instead work with another organisation, the Mopa Development Association, on matters relating to sustainable community development.
On the controversial ₦20 million development fund, the council maintained that the Mopa Development Association was the organisation that received the donation from the Leke Abejide Foundation.
It recalled that during the cheque presentation ceremony, the Abe-led faction of the Mopa Welfare Society was not present and that the cheque was handed over to the Mopa Development Association.
The council therefore called on the Leke Abejide Foundation to investigate how the account details of the disputed faction allegedly found their way into the payment schedule, despite what it described as an updated schedule published during the presentation ceremony.
The traditional council also said it had previously communicated its position to the disputed faction after the latter reportedly wrote to it claiming to have received ₦20 million on behalf of the Mopa community.
According to the council, it responded that the faction lacked the legitimacy to represent the entire community and that it did not wish to engage with an organisation whose authority, in its view, was disputed by the court proceedings.
Highlighting the impact of the foundation’s intervention, the Mopa Traditional Council disclosed that the community had commenced work on a new community hospital following the donation made through the Mopa Development Association.
It said the foundation-laying ceremony was attended by members of the traditional council, while residents from Okeguru, Okedagun, Adogbe, Ayinaku, Patia, Ilegemo, Ikeji and Ijagbe had contributed materials to support the project.
The council described the community’s participation as evidence of its commitment to the hospital project and the collective pursuit of sustainable development in Mopa.
It expressed appreciation to Hon. Leke Abejide, the representative of the constituency at the National Assembly, for what it described as his willingness to support community development, urging him and his foundation to remain guided by transparency and the recognised traditional and community structures.
The council also cautioned against allowing the dispute to undermine development efforts, alleging that a few individuals residing outside Mopa were attempting to influence the affairs of the community from Abuja, Lagos and Lokoja.
It appealed to the Leke Abejide Foundation to carefully examine the issues raised and ensure that development interventions are channelled through organisations duly recognised by the community.
The rejoinder ended with an expression of appreciation to Abejide for his support for Mopa’s development and a call for the continued prioritisation of unity, transparency and the welfare of the people.
The allegations and claims in the rejoinder represent the position of the Mopa Traditional Council. The response of the Abe-led faction of the Mopa Welfare Society and the Leke Abejide Foundation to the specific allegations was not included in the statement.
Details of the rejoinder below;
Hon. Leke Abejide
National Assembly, Abuja
Attention: Leke Abejide Foundation
RE: AN OPEN LETTER TO LEKE ABEJIDE FROM MOPA WELFARE SOCIETY CONCERNING DEVELOPMENT FUND AND THE COURT CASE INITIATED AGAINST THE SOCIETY
Morning sir,
Following the letter written by the Abe led faction of Mopa Welfare Society and Copied to the Elulu of Mopa by the recipient. It is important that the Leke Abejide Foundation knows as a fact that this group is different from the Mopa Welfare Society they claimed as they are just group of very few individuals that hijacked the name Mopa Welfare Society and rushed to Coporate Affair Commission about 2 years ago to hijack the Name “MOPA WELFARE SOCIETY” and appointed themselves as BOT two year ago, Change the Constitution that is known to Mopa people (Infact there was an objection to the registration to CAC). The intention was to use the name to fight for the Elulu Stool, undermine Mopa Traditional Council and this, unfortunately bastardise the effort of our forefathers as they broke the Society into two factions which had litigation in court as they intend to hijack activities and asset of the community, infact the court ruling established the other faction as statusco was said to be maintained. Following these confusion of Abe led faction of Mopa Welfare Society which is just about 2 years old the Mopa Community decided to discontinue the engagement of the 2 factions of Mopa Welfare Society and engaged another Association to assist in the affair of Mopa Community Sustainable Development and this was adequately established to Abe faction when they wrote a letter to Mopa Traditional Council that they recieved 20 million on behalf of Mopa Community, the Mopa Traditional Council responded that; they do not have the legitimacy to represent the entire Mopa Community and we do not want to deal with a factions that’s not even recognised by court rulings. And the Leke Abejide Foundation should recall that during the Cheque handing over ceremony, this so called Mopa Welfare Society was no where to be found and the Cheque was handed over to Mopa Development Association. It’s important that the foundation investigates how the Abe led faction of Mopa Welfare Society fraudulently got their account details into the payment schedule as against the updated schedule that was published during the ceremony.
COMMUNITY PROJECT; It’s important to note that Mopa people in solidarity to Mopa Development Association receiving donations from Leke Abejide foundation has embarked on a New Mopa Community Hospital Project with Traditional Council present in the foundation laying ceremony and infact Mopa people from Okeguru, Okedagun, Adogbe, Ayinaku, Patia, Ilegemo, Ikeji, Ijagbe donated materials to support the project implementation.
We therefore sincerely appreciate the decency of our representative at the National Assembly on doing what is right and not allowed to be dragged into the mischief of the very few individuals that stays outside Mopa to undermine the Mopa Traditional Council and control the activities of Mopa from Abuja, Lagos and Lokoja.
Thanks sir,
MOPA TRADITIONAL COUNCIL