Cooperatives Frequently Asked Questions and Answers 
Question 1
What are the directives from the starring Committee on how the three cooperative executives (President,  Treasurer, and Secretary) are nominated? Is there a modality to their selection process, and how can they be put in place?
RESPONSE:
The three executives have been put in place already, and were registered when the committee was being registered, as that is a requirement for registration that must submit along as a Trustee. You must identify the executive.
 We worked with the Zonal Pastors on the nomination of the committee executives.  The names of the Executives will be posted on each cooperative group right after the meeting. 

Question 2
What is the specific modality for selecting the three cooperative executive/principal members (President, Secretary, and Treasurer)?
RESPONSE:
The cooperatives are already established and registered as required.

Question 3
What is the administrative process for the cooperatives, and how will transparency be ensured?
RESPONSE:
A platform will be created for each cooperative, allowing members to log in and ensure transparency. Executives are responsible for maintaining proper records, while Trustees ensure compliance. 


Question 4
Will a third party be involved in overseeing the cooperatives?
RESPONSE:
No third party will be involved. The existing team will manage processes at the backend without micromanaging the cooperatives.  

Question 5
What percentage of dividends will be given to cooperative members?
RESPONSE:
No fixed percentage has been determined. Every dividend will be calculated based on the amount or unit contributed by each individual.
A detailed breakdown will be provided, and legal professionals are ensuring compliance.

Question 6
In a case where someone wishes to invest in one or more units but does not have enough money to do so, and probably has 50 to 70 percent of the actual amount required for the investment, can such a person be allowed to deposit the 70 percent in order to secure a unit upon completion of payment?
RESPONSE:
Where a person wishes to subscribe for one or more units and doesn't have enough funds, a grace period of 4 months is given to meet the expected amount required for the investment. At the end of the 4th month, each person will be issued proof of investment from the cooperative, and a proof of investment will be issued by the bank to the cooperative. Every member has the grace period to complete their payment within the 4 months.


Question 7
Has border service been observed and if not, will it be an issue?
RESPONSE:
The issue of border services isn't on the table for now, but work on Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has been observed and done regarding such issues.

Question 8
Will there be a Return on investment upon every investment made. I.e the unit or several units a person invests in?
RESPONSE:
The Investment made is on shares bought for which dividends will be given at the end of each year and there's room for substantial growth in the investment made. Note that our project work is that of commonwealth.

Question 9
 How well has the cooperative structure been checkmated? I think it's necessary for every cooperative to have an auditing team as that is part of the requirement for an effective and functional cooperative structure engagements.
RESPONSE:
There aren't actual records of the cooperative investment project being audited by an auditor. As we pointed out earlier, our cooperative trustees have been registered and so far are not faltering in any way. Remember that each cooperative is governed by different state laws, which could differ in their operations in a particular state. However, if this is a necessary requirement for our cooperative structure and operations in each state, recourse will be made, and specific adjustments will be ensured to check our cooperative structure and operations. Our lawyers will conduct research and revert to us regarding any alterations. 

Question 10
It was mentioned earlier that the Cooperative is for the benefit of our brethren but I would want to bring in my family members to invest also, of which some are members of Christ Embassy and some are not. Is that possible? (Esteemed Pastor Akira – Abuja Zone 2)
RESPONSE: 
Those who are not members may be considered after we are done with this phase for members, but for now, our mandate is to secure this opportunity for our brethren. However, if there are external persons who would like to invest, get their details across to us for review and possible approval.
Question 11
The minimum unit of investment was mentioned to be N100,000, but is there an upper limit? (Esteemed Pastor Nnaeto – CEPH Zone 1)
RESPONSE: 
There is no limit. A unit of investment is N100,000. You can choose to buy as many units as you want in multiples of N100,000. If you want to buy 3 units, that would be N300,000 or 10 units which would be N1,000,000.
Question 12
Will our cooperative cover savings and loans or is it basically for investment as I’m not aware that there are such in Lagos (Esteemed Dcns Uloma – Lagos Sub Zone B).
RESPONSE: 
There are different kinds of cooperatives of which the one you are referring to is more of a Credit and Thrift cooperative and not a multipurpose cooperative. Credit and Thrift cooperatives collect contributions and loan out to members or outsiders. In multipurpose cooperative, you determine what to do; the Government doesn’t tell you want to do here. Ours is a multipurpose cooperative and we focus on investment and our initial plan is to give members an investment platform into the financial sector and for them to have a stake of an investment in Parallex Bank Limited.
Question 13
My question is on the SPV and how it will work. Who determines the investment?  (Esteemed Pastor William – CELZ5).
RESPONSE:
 SPV means Special Purpose Vehicle. The cooperative is the SPV which is to give members the door to invest in Parallex Bank. It is called an SPV because it is specifically about investment and not like any other cooperative. From the onset, it is made clear that whatever is being invested, will be used to get a stake in Parallex Bank because this is our commonwealth and we are investing in it to get returns. 
Question 14
At the time of the return of the investment which will be paid in bulk through the cooperative, would the cooperative have the mandate to do something with the ROI or are they to payout all the ROI to those who invested?
RESPONSE:
 It’s the owner of the money that decides if he wants to reinvest his money. The cooperative itself cannot decide what to do with the ROI, it is a personal decision of the investor. It is equal return for each unit of investment that was bought by an investor. The investment capital continues, however, if after 1 year someone wants to walk out on the investment and doesn’t want to have shares in the bank anymore, we can get someone or even the cooperative to buy it over from the person. 
Question 15
Does the cooperative have a share in the ROI or 100% of the ROI is released to the investor? 
RESPONSE: 
That will be clarified in our next meeting. This structure is being run with clear guidance. We are hoping that there will be an approval where a case of 1% of the return will be used to run the cooperative. In a normal cooperative, one would pay a registration fee to join but in this instance that is not being stated because we want our brethren to have as much comfort as they can. We will now look at the possibility of a percentage to be charged against returns (not against investment) to run the cooperative office and structure. The Excos would monitor how that will be used, that is why we have the Board of Trustees of which you are a part of.

