Nigeria: Bendel Brewery Fund trapped in Sierra Leone

More facts have continued to emerge on the alleged messy affairs of the management of the ailing Nigerian beer company, Bendel Breweries Ltd, Edo State, Daily Indipendent posted on April 21.

At the sitting of the probe committee of the Edo House of Assembly on Thursday, April 20, it was announced that the company’s fund in an account in Sierra Leone has been trapped in circumstances that make it extremely difficult to retrieve it. The committee headed by former Majority Leader of the assembly, Patrick Obahiagbon, was earlier told on Wednesday, April 19 that the company owed a total debt of N550m.

The company had established a bureau in Sierra Leone, but the management could not continue with operations owing to alleged high tariff.

Testifying before the committee, legal adviser/company secretary to the suspended management, Bayo Omoige, said it was regrettable that the fund had remained trapped in that country.
On the debt burden, general manager, Osaro Idah, told the panel that contrary to speculation that the company under his administration incurred a heavy debt of N1 billion, it actually left a debt of N550m.

He explained that advance payments were usually made by distributors of the company’s products before taking delivery of their consignments, indicating that the said debt built up as a result of such advance payments.

However, human resources manager of the company, Mrs Josephine Bazuaye, told the panel that another messy affair bogging down the company was the engagement of unqualified staff. She said many of the staff possessed no evidence of qualification for the posts they hold.