Ododo administration backs digital registration, mandatory revalidation as government targets transparency, accountability and stronger grassroots economy
By Taiye Bayode
The Kogi State Government has launched a major push to digitalise the state’s cooperative sector, signalling a decisive break from years of manual registration, fragmented records and weak accountability that have hampered the ability of cooperative societies to fully serve as engines of grassroots economic development.
The reform, being driven by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry through its Directorate of Cooperative Societies, took centre stage in Lokoja at the 2026 Training Workshop for registered cooperative societies across the state.
Held at the State Secretariat Conference Hall under the theme, “Towards Strengthening Cooperatives for Sustainable Development in Kogi State,” the workshop brought together cooperative societies operating across ministries, departments and agencies, professional organisations and grassroots trade groups.
The development comes against the backdrop of the Federal Government’s ongoing Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, with Kogi State moving to align its cooperative system with the emerging national digital framework.
Chairing the event, The Permanent Secretary, Hajia Sualihat Musa Amana, described cooperatives as one of the most effective mechanisms for taking economic empowerment directly to the grassroots.
She noted that cooperatives give members access to credit, collective purchasing power, organised marketing and disciplined savings; benefits that individual members may struggle to obtain independently.
But she also delivered one of the workshop’s clearest messages: Kogi’s cooperative administration is going digital.
Amana announced that the Ministry is transitioning to a fully digitised cooperative registration system as part of the state government’s broader drive for transparency, efficiency and modernisation.
All existing cooperative societies, she said, will be required to undergo a mandatory data revalidation exercise.
Verified societies will subsequently receive automated digital certificates, replacing the existing manual certification process.
The Permanent Secretary urged cooperative leaders to respond promptly when the revalidation exercise commences, warning against allowing genuine and active societies to be excluded from the new system through failure to update their records.
The Ministry also reminded participants that technology must strengthen rather than undermine the fundamental principles of cooperation, describing cooperatives as voluntary, democratic enterprises founded on self-help, equality and solidarity, stressing that these values must remain at the centre of the sector even as the state embraces modern systems.
Director, Cooperatives, Alh. Tenimu Momoh briefed participants on a national workshop the Ministry sent him to for Directors of Cooperatives in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, held from August 11 to 14, 2026, under the leadership of the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, focusing on Nigeria’s Cooperative Digital Transformation Programme and the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria.
THE DIGITAL RESET
A major milestone disclosed at the workshop was the signing, on August 12, 2026, of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Cooperative Federation of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, formally setting the national digitalisation framework in motion.
Under the new system, every registered cooperative society is expected to receive a Cooperative Verification Number (CVN), while individual members will receive a Cooperative Identification Number (Coop ID).
For Kogi, the significance is enormous.
The initiative is designed to establish a reliable and verifiable register of cooperative societies and their members, addressing longstanding gaps in documentation and identity verification that have limited confidence in Nigeria’s cooperative movement and complicated efforts to connect cooperatives with formal finance, investment and wider markets.
The administration of Governor Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo remains committed to working closely with the cooperative sector and advancing reforms capable of making cooperatives stronger, more credible and more economically productive.
MINISTRY WARNS AGAINST UNAUTHORISED DIRECTIVES
The Ministry also used the workshop to strengthen its communication and administrative safeguards.
Amana clarified that all official correspondence to the Ministry must be addressed to the Honourable Commissioner, while outgoing correspondence from the Ministry is valid only when signed by either the Commissioner or the Permanent Secretary.
The measure, Sualihat explained, is intended to shield cooperative societies from unauthorised instructions, fraudulent directives and impersonation.
She commended the leadership of the Cooperative Directorate for what she described as transparency and integrity, stressing that institutional safeguards must remain in place regardless of changes in personnel.
WHY COOPERATIVES FAIL
The workshop did not shy away from the problems threatening cooperative societies themselves.
Presenting a paper titled “Why Some Cooperative Societies Are Struggling to Survive in Nigeria,” Chief Ibikunle Medubi identified poor governance and weak financial discipline as major threats to the sustainability of cooperatives.
He highlighted financial opacity among executive committees, indiscriminate loan approvals without consideration of members’ repayment capacity, unauthorised sitting allowances, persistent loan defaults and the reluctance of members to hold their leaders accountable.
Medubi urged societies to elect leaders of proven integrity, properly screen prospective members, comply strictly with their bye-laws and impose effective sanctions on loan defaulters.
He also advised cooperatives to protect liquidity by prioritising appropriate short-term investments rather than locking up funds in risky long-term ventures.
His message was blunt: a cooperative that cannot provide loans to qualified members when due or pay annual dividends is already showing signs of distress.
A cooperative, he stressed, must be more than an institution that merely collects monthly contributions.
LEADERSHIP UNDER THE LAW
Momoh’s second presentation focused on the statutory responsibilities of cooperative committees and the legal framework governing their operations.
He explained that the committee; comprising the President, Vice President, Honorary Secretary and Treasurer, is the governing body entrusted with the affairs of a registered cooperative society.
He outlined eligibility requirements, including a minimum age of 21 years, and explained circumstances under which committee members may lose office, including insolvency, conviction for offences involving dishonesty and unexplained absence from three consecutive meetings.
Where a vacancy occurs, he said, it is required to be filled within 14 days.
Beyond leadership titles, Momoh emphasised the financial and legal responsibilities attached to cooperative office.
Committee members are expected to represent their societies before public authorities, maintain accurate financial records, submit annual reports for audit and, in credit societies, ensure that loans are used strictly for their approved purposes.
They may also bear joint financial responsibility where a society suffers losses because of failure to comply with applicable regulations and bye-laws.
FROM SAVINGS CLUBS TO ECONOMIC ENGINES
The significance of the Lokoja workshop extends beyond cooperative administration.
With thousands of Nigerians depending on cooperatives for savings, credit, agricultural support, enterprise development and collective economic power, the success of Kogi’s digital reform could determine whether the sector remains a loose collection of savings groups or evolves into a properly regulated grassroots economic force.
The message emerging from the workshop is therefore unmistakable: Kogi wants its cooperatives documented, digitised, accountable and investment-ready.
Under Governor Ododo’s administration, the cooperative sector is being positioned not merely as a savings mechanism, but as a platform for financial inclusion, enterprise development, grassroots empowerment and sustainable economic growth.
The 2026 training workshop has consequently set a new direction for the sector; from paper to digital records, from informal operations to stronger governance and from monthly savings to measurable economic impact
