On the one hand, FIJ’s reports have revealed how Newedge Finance Limited – PalmCredit’s parent company –indiscriminately forced loans on people, breached their privacies and threatened them into refunding the loans.

In more recent developments, former and current employees of the financial institution have turned the spotlight inward, exposing terrible employee experience inside the organisation.

In a series of interviews with FIJ, these employees narrate stories of coercion, abuse and undercompensation. According to their accounts, Newedge Finance imposed grueling working conditions and withheld significant portions of their monthly income. The ex-employees also revealed how the company blackmailed them with the threat of dismissal and reality of job scarcity in the Nigerian labour market.

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‘IT WAS A TOXIC RELATIONSHIP, YOU WOULD BE THINKING ABOUT KEEPING YOUR JOB ‘

FIJ gathered from the interviews that most PalmCredit staff embraced the offer to work with the organisation out of sheer desperation to secure employment and the hope for a paycheck.

Speaking to FIJ, Kareem Oluwole* detailed his experience, from completing H.N.D in 2021 to scavenging for a paycheck in Lagos and finally getting lucky with Newedge in 2022, or so he thought. Oluwole is an ex-employee of Palmcredit who was dismissed in the aftermath of a protest against poor pay.

“If not because the country is what it is, why would I be working in that terrible organisation? I finished my H.N.D. from Crown Poly in 2021. As a young man, I needed to find the next way. I came back home to Lagos to find a place to work,” Oluwole said.

“First, I worked in a store. I stopped because the money was not enough. I began job hunting. I actively searched for about 7 months. I was relieved to hear about Newedge Finance through a friend. He painted it like we would be working in an office for a financial institution. If not, why would I use have an accountancy degree and be slaving away?” Kareem queried rhetorically in his interview.

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Another former employee, who prefers to be called Tessy, shared a similar story. However, In Tessy’s account, Newedge Finance was supposed to be an interim place of work; a temporary source of income until he figures out his next career move.

“PalmCredit was supposed to be a place to gain a little bit of work experience, clear my head and prepare for the next stage of my life. But everyday is trouble. I think it’s a toxic place to be. You know you are supposed to leave but you would be thinking about keeping your job. Because there is honestly no job for upstarts like us,” Tessy explained to FIJ.

In March, KPMG, a global tax auditing firm, reported an unemployment rate of 37.7% in Nigeria for the 2022 economic year. The firm predicted a 7.69% increase in 2023. Given Nigeria’s population of 200 million, this means that roughly eighty million people may find themselves without jobs at the end of the year. These factors contribute to why Newedge workers feel stuck.

‘I FRACTURED MY KNEE IN AN ACCIDENT AND I GOT SENT AWAY FOR IT’

Despite having differing experiences, most former PalmCredit employees who shared their stories with FIJ had one thing in common: abuse.

Desmond Igala*, for example, left PalmCredit involuntarily due to post-surgical complications.

The pain in his narration was almost palpable when he recounted his accident and the consequent punishment he got for taking an emergency medical leave.

“For me, Newedge is a capital ‘No’. When I had an accident that fractured my knee and I had to visit a local orthopaedist, I called my team leader to inform him almost immediately. I was working remotely that day and I stepped out to buy food for lunch when the bike accident happened,” Igala said.

“I informed my TL I told him I won’t be able to work due to the pain and all so I requested a 5-day leave to fix myself. I had not even recovered enough to walk when I called him back, four days later, to resume work remotely.

“You won’t believe it; my TL said the manager did not agree. According to him, I was to report to the office the next day or my appointment would be terminated.”

In the broader context of workplace abuse, Taofeek Ajadi*, a former Newedge employee, also shared a rather peculiar experience. He explained how he protested the working conditions and was made to append an undertaking not to ever lodge such complaints if he wanted to keep his job.

“I remember when we complained about how the work conditions were only considerate on paper. For instance, you are supposed to work eight to five, six days a week. But with our task, you will just find yourself working Sunday to Sunday,” Ajadi told FIJ.

“Me and some guys publicly complained to the supervisor about this in a meeting and she stripped us of our remote work privileges for one day of the week. She also made us sign an undertaking that we would not make such complaints again. She finished such wicked statements by telling us to find another job if we are not comfortable.”

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HOW NEWEDGE FORCES US TO DUPE OTHER PEOPLE

Ajadi also made another interesting revelation in his interview with FIJ. According to him, Newedge forced them to employ underhanded tactics in order to hit the targeted key performance indicators (KPI).

“The place forces you to forget your humanity. For instance, we are forced to dupe people. If not, they’d send us to something called “training”, make you work on Sunday or dismiss you,” Ajadi disclosed.

From FIJ’s previous investigation, it was observed that employees were sent to training as some form of demotion, when they flouted the orders of the supervisors or the rules of the organisation.

Ajadi explained that supervisors instructed them to bring down the interest rate of loans — a ploy just to make people take the loan.

“So, we are forced to lie to our customers about our interest rate and repayment plans. For instance, we lie to people that our interest rate is as low as 8 percent when it is actually way above 30 percent. We promise them, convince them, plead with them and extend our repayment dates, just to convert them within the stipulated three days,” Ajadi told FIJ.

Oladele Smith* corroborated Ajadi’s story. When FIJ presented him with findings from Ajadi, he confirmed it and stated that he would not be disclosing more about it. According to him, they were not actions he was proud of and they may indict him.

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‘YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE: MANAGE THE MONEY OR GET OUT’

In addition to abuse, Newedge employees, both current and former, share another common grievance: undercompensation.

FIJ gathered that they were consistently paid less than they deserved and were often denied commensurate pay even when they went above and beyond by working extra hours.

Meanwhile, FIJ’s undercover investigation revealed a pattern at Newedge: the company relentlessly pursued salary deductions from its employees even for seemingly trivial “offenses” like filing complaints.

Speaking to FIJ on pay and remuneration, Oladele described how low remunerations could be for no apparent reason.

“It can be so bad that some agents will get N7,000 as a bonus. It is not a one-time thing. But if you dare complain, you are risking dismissal, demotion or further deduction,” Oladele told FIJ.

In Ajadi’s account, Newedge just wants to cheat employees.

“They cheat us with our monthly pay. They find every reason to deduct our money, especially the H.O.D, one Madam Tolulope Salako. Because, how can someone work for a whole month and weekends and you give them N12,500?” he queried rhetorically.

FIJ gathered from the ex-employees that protesting poor pay at Newedge was an invitation to dismissal or more deductions.

“We recently made a peaceful protest about our pay. Aside from resorting to making the agents sign an undertaking not to protest again, the H.O.D influenced the dismissal of the team leads who were at the frontier of the protest. You also go home if you don’t sign the undertaking,” he told FIJ.

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Oladele, who lost the job, as a result of the protest, accused the H.O.D, one Tolulope Salako, as the major facilitator of the abuse and repression at Newedge.

“When the H.O.D does her thing, no one dares talk. At least, if you don’t want to be demoted or dismissed on the spot. The protest that led to my dismissal, for instance, we had seen our pay. Everyone was sad that that was the compensation after working extra hours and meeting up with conversion.

“We met up the next day to protest, peacefully. In the course of the peaceful protest, we called for the H.O.D and HR. The H.O.D pleaded with us to work and promised to address our concerns.

“The next day, she told us to appoint representatives from each team and she came around the next day to speak to all of the representatives. That Friday, the H.R sent for everyone that spoke in that meeting and served us all dismissal letters without any reason.

“Can you imagine? We would later learn from the HR officer that she informed the dismissal. According to one of them, all of us who spoke in the protest were threats to the company. The bitter part is that we called her and she acted like she did not have a hand in it. So in Newedge, you cannot complain. You either manage the peanut or get out,” he explained.

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WHAT IS THE STANCE OF EMTILL?

On September 7, FIJ contacted two management staff members at Emtill Solutions, the outsourcing company that manages PalmCredit telesales. FIJ’s investigations showed Emtill Solutions was contracted by Newedge to manage telesales for its products.

The first managerial staff, Tolulope Salako, explained that she could not speak on behalf of the company.

“I am not the owner of the company. This matter would be better addressed if you reached out to HR officials,” she told FIJ.

Damola, a second human resource staff at the organisation, also shared Tolulope’s disposition towards FIJ’s questions.

“If you want to further ask questions regarding this you can communicate with Emtill Solutions officially. Thanks,” he told FIJ through text.

However, when FIJ asked for the official line of communication from Damola he did not respond.

On August 7, FIJ also sent emails to Newedge Finance’s address designated for whistleblowing and PalmCredit’s email address written on the company’s website.

There were no responses from either party at press time.