CASHVILLE MULTI-PURPOSE CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LIMITED

Head Office: Palm Royal Plaza, No 124, Ovwian DSC Express Way, Ovwian, Udu LGA, Delta State.

Branch Office : No 1, Anosike street, (after St. Thomas Anglican Diocesan Hospital), Akudo, Otolo, Nnewi North LGA, Anambra State.Branch Offices : All 36 States plus the Federal Capital Territory-Abuja

of Nigeria

CONSTITUTIONPREAMBLEWe, the members of CASHVILLE MULTI-PURPOSE CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY , Udu Local Government Area of Anambra State, do firmly and solemnly resolve to provide for ourselves a constitution and to be governed by the provisions therein contained.

SECTION 1: NAME, VISION , MISSION STATEMENTS AND MOTTO.

NAME:The name of the Co-operative Society is ‘CASHVILLE MULTI-PURPOSE CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LTD’.VISION STATEMENT: To be the foremost cooperative society in Africa on provision of economic and welfare services to its members.MISSION STATEMENT: To build the cooperative society as an international family accommodative of all ideas and strategies of all members with harmonization according to international best practices in order to be economically and corporately successful in its services by :

a. Establishing the cooperative in all 36 states and Federal Capital Territory –Abuja of Nigeria in the first year of operation (2015) through partnership with relevant organizations especially Global Community Health Foundation and others with headquarters located in Delta State .

b. Generating funds through our thrift /savings of at least five hundred million naira (N500,000,000.00) within the first year of operation (2015) in each of the cooperative society and all our branches in the 36 states and Abuja of Nigeria through aggressive marketing using all possible media and strategies

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( for example , engaging voluntary and employed paid ad-hoc staff as marketers).

c. Establishing at least one Cashville Microfinance Bank(s) in all major cities/ recommended towns of all states and Abuja of Nigeria within two years of operation (2015-2016).

d. Establishing at least one agro-based farm(s) (firms) in all major cities/ recommended towns of all states and Abuja of Nigeria within two years of operation (2015-2016).

e. Establishing linkage(s) of health insurance services for all members within two years of operation (2015-2016)in the 36 states and Abuja of Nigeria.

f. Diversifying into other enterprise like oil and gas, educational institutions/ services, etc within three years of operation (2015-2017) in the 36 states and Abuja of Nigeria.

g. Establishing (a) national/ sub-national conference(s) that shall once annually bring together all branches of the Cooperative in Nigeria for cross- fertilization on principles and practices of our Cooperative system as well as a means to strengthen weaker branches and award achievers (2016 - ).

h. Establishing Cashville Finance Nigeria Limited within first year of operation (2015) to formally and corporately package all our financial activities to enable international trajectory, with activities including financial consultancy, investments in the international community, etc. The Cashville Finance Nigeria Limited shall invariably be the parent of the Cashville Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd, among other future incorporations derivable as we grow and develop.

i. All the above activities of the cooperative shall be conducted with the aim of assisting the three tiers of government , that is, Federal , States and Local governments of Nigeria in improving the welfare of its citizenry( and non-members of the Cooperative) including provision of employment and human capital development of youth, women, and men across Nigeria, etc and ultimately contributing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria.

MOTTO:The Motto of the society is “For with God Nothing Shall Be Impossible” .

SECTION 2: ADDRESS

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The Head Office: Palm Royal Plaza, No 124, Ovwian DSC Express Way, Ovwian, Udu LGA, Delta State.

SECTION 3: AIMS AND OBJECTIVESThe objects of the Co-operative society shall be:a. To establish a cooperative society that will encourage members into self-

actualization and human development.

b. To establish agro-based businesses.

c. To encourage thrift savings among the members and establish a fund from

which members can be given loans for productive purpose.

d. To build a financial network that will enhance and strengthen her individual

member’s wealth.

e. To create a platform for alleviating the needs of our individual members.

f. To engage in any other legal economic enterprise that may tend to enhance

the economic well being of the members.

g. Member’s empowerment.

SECTION 4: QUALIFICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

a. A member may be an individual or a corporate body( profit- or non-profit )

b. Members must be ready to work hard and not under the age of 18 years who

are ordinarily resident in Nigeria.

c. Members shall be admitted on applying in writing to the Committee,

subject to the approval of the general meeting.

d. A member shall exercise the full right of membership on payment of

admission charges which involves payment of entrance fee of

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N2,000(individual) or N 10,000(corporate) and the minimum share or

installment thereof.

e. A member shall be identified by at least 1/3 of the foundation members.

f. Must never have been convicted of any offence involving dishonesty,

robbery, stealing etc.

g. A member shall be gainfully employed.

h. Members must sign the Register of Members in accordance with extant

Laws in force in Nigeria.

i. Admission charges may include goodwill which may be reviewed from

time to time subject to the approval of the General meeting.

j. In addition, any person or corporate body admitted shall pay any

outstanding dues and levies set out for new members.

SECTION 5: WITHDRAWAL AND TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP

a. A member may resign from the society on giving six months notice to the

committee provided that no member may resign until:

i. After expiration of six (6) months notice.

ii. He has repaid all sums due to the society, or where he is standing

surety or the debt of another member, until the debt has been repaid.

b. Membership shall terminate if a member dies or is of unsound mind

(individual) or publicly declared bankrupt ( corporate body) .

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c. Membership may be terminated if the member is guilty of any act or

conduct prejudicial to the interest of the Society and/or is convicted of any

offence involving dishonesty.

d. A member may lose his membership for consistent failure to make savings,

to repay loan in time, or fails to do any of the things required of a member

in this constitution.

e. This Co-operative may resolve by a simple majority vote of those present in

general meeting to remove any member who is guilty of any

unconstitutional act or any other bad behaviour that can negatively affect

the credibility of the Cooperative.

f. At the termination of membership of any individual or corporate body for

any reason whatsoever the assets (including share capital, savings, etc) and

liabilities ( including debts) shall be transferred to the ex-member if he is

alive ( individual) or the corporate body bank account if not declared

publicly bankrupt after appropriate balancing of assets against liabilities or

next of kin if the ex-member is dead(individual) or charity organizations if

the corporate body is declared publicly bankrupt .

SECTION 6: THE LIABILITY OF MEMBERS

a. The termination of membership shall not affect such member’s liability to

co-operative society for any unpaid loan for which the member is a surety

or for any debt owed to or by the co-operative society as at the date of

termination.

b. Any member who withdraws his/her membership or is terminated for any

reason whatsoever must transfer his/her slot to a registered member of the

co-operative society or to the co-operative society as a body.

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c. The new member must have a surety of at least one person among the old/

existing members.

d. Subject to the approval of the President, the Society shall have power to

claim liquidation damages on account of lose that might be sustained by the

Co-operative Society consequent upon the withdrawal of membership.

SECTION 7: SOURCES OF INCOMEThe funds of the Co-operative society shall be derived from:

I. Entrance / admission fees II. Levies

III. Grants/Donations IV. Thrift

V. Investment Return VI. Share capital

VII. Penalties

VIII. Loans from sources approved by the members.

IX. Any other legitimate source(s).

SECTION 8: DISBURSEMENT AND APPLICATION OF FUNDSThe fund of the Society shall be applied to the achievement of the society’s

aims and objectives.

SECTION 9: KEEPING OF ACCOUNT

1. The society shall maintain Account with any bank of its choice; and shall

keep three main Accounts namely:

i. Operational Account-

ii. Project/ Loan Account-

iii. Savings/ Reserve Funds Account-

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2. Signatories to the account shall be the President, the Secretary and the

Treasurer.

3. The President shall be the ‘A’ to the account , the Secretary shall be the ‘

B’, and the Treasurer shall be the ‘C’ to the account; the ‘A’ (President) and

any of the two ‘B’ or ‘ C’ can withdraw from the account.

The Society shall ensure the accurate keeping of record of all income and

expenditure.

SECTION 10: SHARE CAPITAL

a. One share shall be valued at N1.00 and each member shall subscribe to as

many shares as the general meeting shall decide, from time to time

provided that a member’s share does not exceed one fifth (1/5) of the total

share capital of the society and subject also to a minimum of Twenty

thousand (20,000) shares- N20,000;

this provision is optional to ordinary members but compulsory for

management committee members.

b. Share may be paid up in full, or in not more than five installments

( individual member) or in not more than two installments ( corporate

body).

c. No member shall be entitled to withdraw his share unless his membership

is terminated, provided that no share may be withdrawn until the society

has paid any loan it received from outside source(s).

d. A member who fails to pay his/ her installmental share capital on the due

date may be penalized not more than N100.00 for every month or part of

the month the installment is overdue.

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SECTION 11: THRIFT SAVINGS

a. All payments shall be directly into the approved bank account of the

Society with evidence of teller brought to the appropriate officer for

recording.

b. Each member shall save at least N10, 000.00 (Ten thousand Naira only) per

month ( individual) or N100,000. 00 ( One hundred thousand naira only )

per month (corporate body) and shall pay this sum (or such greater sum as

may from time to time be decided by the General Meeting) to the Treasurer

through the financial Secretary at each monthly meeting for credit to his

savings account.

c. Saving shall not be withdrawable so long as a person is a member, provided

that in exceptional circumstances and when a member is not indebted to the

society or is not standing surety for another member’s loan, the

management committee may approve withdrawal of savings on receiving

satisfactory evidence that the money is required for productive purposes.

d. A member who fails to pay his/her monthly savings for three(3) consecutive

times shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred naira (100.00) for each

month ( individual member) or N 1000 for each month ( corporate body)

that the savings are overdue.

SECTION 12: SPECIAL SAVINGS

a. Special savings may include saving for festivities, personal housing

project(s), children educational fees, etc

b. Members may engage in monthly savings of any amount and these may be

withdrawn on short notice.

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c. The Co-operative Society shall not be liable to pay interest on special

savings but the committee may recommend interest at a rate not exceeding

5% per annum subject to the approval of the General Meeting.

SECTION 13: DEPOSIT

a. Members and non-members may make deposits of any amount, at any time

and these may be withdrawn as required provided that two weeks notice

may be required for withdrawal of large amounts (( that is, N50,000.00 and

above (individual) or N 250,000.00 and above (corporate body)) .

b. The Co-operative Society shall not be under obligation to pay interest on

deposits but interest may be paid at a rate not exceeding 10% per annum.

c. The Co-operative Society may receive grants and donations without

restrictions.

SECTION 14: USE OF FUNDS

a. The funds of the society shall be applied to the achievement of the

objectives of the society.

b. Funds not immediately required shall be treated as follows:

i. The treasurer of the society may retain in his custody a cash balance

not exceeding N20, 000.00 (Twenty Thousand Naira Only).

ii. Any cash balance in excess of this amount shall be deposited in any

branch of the Co-operative Society’s Bank Account within 24hours of

such collection.

SECTION 15: TRUSTEES AND THEIR QUALIFICATIONS(A) The trustees of the society shall be the President, Vice-President , Secretary,

and Treasurer .

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(B)The Trustees of CASHVILLE MULTI-PURPOSE CO-OPERATIVE

SOCIETY LTD for the purpose of the extant Law regulating Co-operative society

shall be elected at a General Meeting by simple majority votes of members present;

Provided that no body shall be eligible to be elected as trustee except

i. He has at least 5% shares of the total share capital in the co-operative.

ii. He/ she must have a tangible means of livelihood ,that is, is a full time

businessman/ business woman or working class with net worth of at least

(N1,000,000.00) one million naira .

iii. Must be married.

iv. Must be a person of integrity.

v. Not be less than twenty five (25) years of age.

vi. Remain and retain his/her membership for not less than two (2) years.

(C) Such Trustees (Hereinafter referred to as, “The Trustees’’ or “ management

committee”) shall not be less than four and more than eight in number.

(D) A Trustee may hold office for Life but shall cease to hold

office if he:

a. Resigns his office

b. Ceases to be a member of the registered Trustees of the body.

c. Becomes insane

d. Is officially declared bankrupt

e. Is convicted of a criminal offence involving dishonesty by a Court of competent

jurisdiction

f. Is recommended for removal from office by Trustees majority vote of members

present at any General Meeting of the body.

g. Ceases to reside in Nigeria.

(D) Upon a vacancy occurring in the number of Trustees a General Meeting

will be held to appoint another eligible member of the Society.

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SECTION 16: COMMON SEAL(A) The Trustees shall have a Common seal.

(B) Such Common seal will be kept in the custody of the Secretary who shall

produce it when required for use by the Trustees.

(C) All documents to be executed by the Trustees shall be signed by the President

and Secretary sealed with the Common seal.

SECTION 17: MEETINGS

17.1. For effective administration of the Association there shall be the following

meetings:

1. Annual General meeting

2. General Monthly meeting

3. Emergency meeting

17.2. The quorum for the meetings shall respectively be:

1. Two third of the registered members (Annual General meeting)

2. Two third of the Management Committee (General Monthly meeting)

3. Four members of the Management Committee present (Emergency meeting)

SECTION 18: MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE AND THEIR

QUALIFICATION

The Governing body of the co-operative society shall be the management

committee elected by simple majority votes of members present in the General

meeting.

A member shall qualify to be eligible for Committee if he/she satisfies these

conditions:11

i. He/ she must have a tangible means of livelihood ,that is, is a full time

businessman/ business woman or working class with net worth of at least

(N1,000,000.00) one million naira .

ii. Must be married.

iii. Must be a person of integrity.

iv. Not be less than twenty five (25) years of age.

A member of the committee shall cease to hold office if he/ she :

(a) Ceases to be a member of the Society;

(b)Becomes of unsound mind;

(c) Lends money on his own account;

(d) Become financially embarrassed;

(e) Becomes a paid servant of the Society;

(f) Acts in a manner prejudicial to the interest of the Society

SECTION 19: POWERS AND DUTIES OF GENERAL MEETING AND

THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE.

a. Every member present must sign the attendance register at every Annual

General meeting.

b. The Monthly General Meeting shall be held once in every month in

accordance with extant co-operative law.

c. The Monthly General Meeting shall in addition:

i. Confirm the admission and termination of members.

ii. Make rule when necessary for the smooth operations of the co-

operative society’s business.

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iii. Approve the investment of the co-operative society’s funds in fixed

assets.

iv. Increase the minimum shares and/or thrift savings.

v. Approve the rate of interest on loans and deposits.

vi. Approve the salaries of staff.

vii. Determine appeals from members and staff.

viii. Determine the hours of business of the co-operative society.

d. The Management Committee shall consist of:

i. The President

ii. Vice President

iii. Secretary

iv. Assistant Secretary

v. Financial Secretary

vi. Treasurer

vii. P.R.O

viii. Provost

e. All these Management Committee members shall be elected at the Co-

operative Society’s Annual General Meeting or in the event if a vacancy

occurred during the year, at any Monthly General Meeting;

Provided that the office of the President which shall be reserved for the

Founder of the Cooperative Society is not elective. This is derivable from

the fact that the President/ Founder serves as the link to other branches of

the Cooperative. However, the Founder may voluntarily vacate his office as

the President after ten years of leadership of the Cooperative in the hope 13

that a proper succession plan shall be put in place to make the post of the

President elective. The post of the President shall be open for election to

all /any ethnic group/ tribe in Nigeria.

f. The management Committee shall be governed by extant law regulating co-

operative society and shall stay in office for two (2) years. Any vacancy

filled during the year shall be terminated along with the members of the

management Committee. No member shall remain in the same office for

more than two terms.

g. No member shall be eligible for election or remain a member of any

management Committee if he/she:

i. Resigns from office in writing.

ii. Ceases to be member of the Co-operative society.

iii. Becomes insane.

iv. Is convicted of any offence involving dishonesty.

SECTION 20: DUTIES OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

MEMBERS.

A. THE PRESIDENT

i. The President shall be the principal officer of the Co-operative and shall be

responsible for ensuring that the Law, Rules Bye-Law are observed by

other officers and members and all the decisions and directions of the

Governing Body/ General meeting are given effect to.

ii. Shall preside at general meetings and Management Committee Meetings

and shall ensure that meetings are summoned as prescribed in Rules and

Bye-Laws.

B. VICE PRESIDENT14

i. Shall carry out all functions of the President in the absence of the President;

provided it is with the consent of the President.

ii. Any duty assigned to him by the President.

C. THE SECRETARYi. Shall have custody of all the society’s book of records.

ii. Shall attend the entire general and Committee Meetings and shall carry out

all the instructions of the Committee.

iii. Shall record the whole of the proceedings of the Co-operatives Meeting.

iv. Shall conduct correspondences on behalf of the Co-operative Society.v. Shall have custody of the society’s seal.

D. ASSISTANT SECRETARYi. Shall carry out all the functions of the secretary in the absence of the

secretary.ii. Shall carry out any other functions as may be assigned to him by the

management committee.

E. FINANCIAL SECRETARYi. The financial secretary shall be responsible for all financial records of the

Co-operative and shall work in close contact with the treasurer, collecting all dues, levies, fines, e.t.c.

ii. Shall hand over all the money collected by him on behalf of the Society to

the treasurer within twenty four (24) hours.

iii. Shall present all the documents related to the Co-operative Society’s

business for auditing.

iv. Shall counter-sign all vouchers with the President / Vice President.

v. Shall present a half yearly report of the financial transactions of the society

to the Committee and the general meeting.

vi. Shall report any number or group who fails, neglect or deliberately refuses

to pay his/her dues or contributions to the Committee or the General

meeting.

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vi. Shall be a signatory to the society’s Bank account.

F. TREASURER

i. The treasurer shall be responsible for safe custody of the cash and other

banking document.

ii. Shall receive all money, dues or payable to the society.

iii. Shall receive from the financial secretary, money collected on behalf of the

society.

iv. May retain in his custody any cash balance not exceeding Twenty thousand

(N20, 000.00) naira.

v. Shall keep a record of all moneys received by him and all monies paid by

him.

vi. Shall produce at all times, when called upon, by the Committee Auditors,

the Director or any person authorized by him, all moneys and the relevant

documents in his possession belonging to the society.

vii. Shall be a signatory to the society’s Bank Account.

viii. Shall account for the imprest account monthly.

G. PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER (PRO)

i. Shall publicize the activities of the society adequately through approved

media.

H. PROVOST/ WHIP

i. Shall be responsible for maintaining disciple during all the society, meeting, and

functions.

ii. Shall collect fine from latecomer, noise makers, and other defaulters and pay

same to the financial secretary.

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SECTION 21: LEGAL ADVISERI. The society shall have a legal adviser on ad hoc basis which shall be

responsible for all Legal related issues.

SECTION 22: PENALTY

I. Any member that fails to contribute his money in the meeting will pay a

penalty of N100 on the expected money and if after one week, he will be

paying a penalty of N50 daily on the money until it is paid.

II. Absenteeism without permission attracts a penalty of N100.

III. Lateness to meetings attracts a penalty of N50 and this starts 15 minutes

after the scheduled time.

IV. Our meeting day is last Saturday of every month and the time is between

4:00pm and 6:00pm.

SECTION 23: BANKINGI. The society will maintain at least three (3) accounts with any Banks of its

choice.

II. Signatories to the account are the President, Vice President, Secretary,

Financial Secretary and the Treasurer provided that the President and any

other two (2) out of the five (5) signatories can withdraw from the account

subject to section 9 of this constitution.

SECTION 24: DISPOSAL OF ANNUAL SURPLUS.a. The Annual Net Surplus of the Society shall be determined after charging

all the expenses of the Society to the income and expenditure account and

after providing for interest at a rate not exceeding 1%. See section 34 of

Decree 90 of 1993.

b. 25% of the net surplus shall be allocated to reserve fund.

c. A part of the net profit may be used to pay honouraria to the members of

the management committee.

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d. Any balance of the net surplus may be used for the welfare of the members.

See section 34 and Rule 12 of Decree No. 90 of 1993.

SECTION 25: APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR(S)1. Internal Auditor(s) shall be appointed by the general meeting to audit the

financial records of the society annually and submit an audited report to the Annual

General Meeting of the Association.

2. The audited financial statements (balance sheet and income and expenditure

account) duly certified by internal auditor(s) shall be annexed to the annual returns.

SECTION 26: AMENDMENT OF CONSTITUTIONThis Co-operative Society may alter the provision of this Constitution at a General

meeting by a resolution passed by a simple majority of its members and approved

by the management committee.

Dated this ___________ day of December, 2014

_____________________ __________________________Signature of President Signature of Secretary & Date

_____________________ __________________________Name of President & Tel. No. Name of Secretary & Tel. No.

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