The International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) office in Abeokuta, Ogun State, has paid N628,425 to Jessica Owoyemi (not real name), one of its vendors.

Owoyemi told FIJ on Sunday morning that she received the payment from the organisation for a service she recently rendered.

This came after FIJ intervened in an agreement violation dispute between Owoyemi and the organisation on Thursday.

Prior to FIJ’s intervention, Hortinigeria, an IFDC subsidiary, had hired Owoyemi as an event decorator for a programme it organised on March 25.

“After hiring my outfit, Hortinigeria told me that IFDC would be the organisation to pay me for my services,” Owoyemi said when she first reached out to FIJ on Thursday.

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“Subsequently, IFDC sent me an email instructing me to fill a vendor questionnaire that was attached to it. They also asked me to attach my CAC receipt to my mail while responding. I, however, told them that I was still working on how to get my outfit officially registered with the CAC.

“The official I interacted with then said ‘okay’.

“On March 23, they called me to say that the organisation would not be able to process my payment before I rendered my services at the event.

“The call came on Saturday, and the event was scheduled to hold two days later. The reason they gave for their inability to pay me in advance was that it was already the weekend.

“They then asked me if I could still proceed with the job without payment. Their question also came with an assurance that I would be paid on the same Monday or on Tuesday, the following day.

“After several assurances and promises from them, I finally agreed to get the job done for them without first receiving a dime in advance payment.”

PROMISE NOT KEPT

When the event came to an end, however, and after Owoyemi had pulled resources together to ensure the event was a success, IFDC failed to fulfill the promise it had earlier made to her.

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“On Monday evening (after the event), I sent them a message, emphasising that I had delivered on our agreement and that they should not forget to fulfil the promise they made, and they responded, telling me not to worry,” Owoyemi said.

“On Tuesday, however, rather than pay me my money, they shockingly came with an excuse that they were finding it difficult to pay me because my business was yet to be registered.

“Their response then made me remind them that I had been sincere all along by letting them know right from the onset that I was still in the process of getting my business registered.

“I also filled the same information in the vendor questionnaire they gave to me. IFDC, now using that as an excuse not to pay me on time, would then mean that they were the ones who chose not to be sincere with me.”

While IFDC held on to Owoyemi’s payment, the sub-vendors she contacted for the same job had already become hostile to her and were demanding that she immediately pay them for their services.

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“Some of them were even accusing me of already receiving payment from the organisation and refusing to pay them,” Owoyemi told FIJ on Thursday.

“Now, the Easter holidays are around the corner, IFDC is yet to pay me for the job and I don’t know what to tell the other vendors I hired for the job.”

FIJ’S INTERVENTION

After Owoyemi spoke with FIJ on Thursday, FIJ sent an email to the IFDC office on the same day, asking to know why it had not paid the vendor for her services and requesting an urgent response.

Rather than respond to FIJ’s email, however, an official from the organisation quickly reached out to Owoyemi on Friday morning to assure her that she would be paid as soon as possible.

“One of IFDC’s officials just called me now to say that a ‘state of emergency’ had been declared on the organisation’s inability to pay me on time,” Owoyemi said.

“They added that I should be patient with them, and that the payment would be made to me soon.”

On Saturday evening, the payment was eventually made to the vendor. Instead of the N661,500 payment she was supposed to receive for the job, she was paid N628,425.

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“Thank you so much for your intervention, FIJ. I really appreciate your help,” Owoyemi said on Sunday morning.

“I have also been able to settle the other vendors I hired for the job.”