Some people will always see things in the light of tribalism or religious sentiment. But i donot see any thing wrong or any hidden agenda in the sacking of the five bank executives. They deserve what they got.

Quoting Witty,
Lamido is a man of integrity and of a great mind he will not want to soil his name and the name of the royal family where he came from. What this man is pursuing is the agenda of the populace to get our savings secured, ensure job security for the people working in these banks and secure the funds of the share holders. The 400 billion Naira injected into these banks is it for the North? After-all some of these issues ought to have been thrashed by Soludo if he is really whom he claimed to be I wont be surprised if he is accused of negligence in this matter. We are all aware of the atrocities being committed by these people they cook up figures during AGM, give loans irregularly without good collateral, mismanagement funds, aiding and abetting in money laundering and so on. The weeks to come will unfold some of theses issues by then we shall be able to Judge clearly. Meanwhile Lamido Should please continue his good work.

Dear Witty,
Soludo did a great job & i love and respect him for what he did. He created the EDW (Expanded Discount WIndow) from which this 5 banks were the more regular users (borrowers) based on which Lamido made his inferences. What Soludo did was his style & was good. He came to Intercontinental Bank's aid when dere were rumours that they were going under due to the errors/happenstances that were unique to them. He declared that it was still one of the safest banks to bank in. So you see, he did something. It's just that Lamido's style is different. & it's clear & as bright as the day that if you and I should be in the same position, what you will do & what i will do will differ cos we r different. so please give honour to the great man called SOLUDO.

The Sanusi coup: Real reasons why five bank chiefs were axed
By EMEKA OKOROANYANWU and AMECHI OGBONNA
Monday, August 17, 2009
•Sanusi, CBN Governor
Photo: The Sun Publishing
More Stories on This Section

In what many have seen as another shock treatment package to stakeholders in the banking industry, the Central Bank of Nigeria Friday sacked the management of five commercial banks in the country, citing grave financial and operating conditions as the basis for its action.

The policy decision which was taken pursuant to the powers conferred on the governor by section 33 and 35 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act 1991, as amended was announced at a world press conference in Lagos Friday by the CBN governor, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, in company of his deputy governors
The sack of the five banks was coming barely two months after the exit of Professor Chukwuma Soludo and the confirmation of the appointment of the new governor, by President Umaru Yar’Adua, on June 4, 2009.

Those who had followed the banking industry since the 2005 consolidation programme, saw Professor Soludo’s five-year stint as CBN governor as quite significant in the life of the banking industry in Nigeria for several reasons. They contended that it was during his tenure that the number of institutions were drastically reduced from about 90 to just 25 at the end of the December 2005.

At the same time, the banks’ shareholders funds, branch network, capital base and other parameters were on the upswing, as Nigerian banks were for the first time listed on the ranking of 1000 global financial institutions. It is also believed that the consolidation programme facilitated the global expansion of Nigerian banks to locations in Europe, Asia, Africa and very soon America and the Middle East.
Under him the Central Bank of Nigeria had always said the 22 per cent capital adequacy rating of the nation’s banks was the highest in the world, considering that the Basle 11 standard which is in the neighborhood of 8 per cent.

Most of the banks also won awards within and outside the country, while their rating soared higher.
But the fresh twist to the industry story and the taking over of the banks showed that perhaps it may not have been bubble capital alone that the CBN has been targeting under the present dispensation. In fact, some financial analysts who spoke to Daily Sun on Friday saw a Northern agenda in the Sanusi’s sanitization programme.

They argued that the North is still sulking over the loss of their banks during the Soludo led consolidation exercise in 2005 and are bent on redressing the imbalance.
In announcing the changes last week, Sanusi said new investors would be invited to recapitalized the banks, a statement analysts saw as more an attempt to give money bags from the Northern part of the country, an opportunity to enhance their shareholding position in some of the banks.
Another question being asked in some quarters is the rationale behind the take over of 92 years old Union Bank and Afribank, which undoubtedly are doing better than Unity Bank, considered by many as a Northern bank.

It was gathered that the CBN governor politely refused overtures by some top politicians, traditional rulers and religious leaders who were lobbied by some of the affected banks to intervene on their behalf, insisted that the banks need to be saved from total collapse because innocent people and stake holders have stakes in the institutions.

Last Friday, five out of the 10 institutions so far investigated became the guinea pigs that the authorities have used to show how bad the nation’s banking industry had deteriorated following the high level of exposure and management recklessness.

Having realized that it was not just change of the management that would solve the distress in the industry, the bank said it was injecting about N400billion over the next few months to keep the five banks alive.
The CBN facility is coming in the form of tier 2 capital which will be repaid from the proceeds of recapitalization in the near future , pointing out that the injection would be sufficient to resolve and stabilize all the institutions and enable them continue normal operations.

The CBN boss said the Yar Adua administration has no intention of nationalizing any financial institution.
He said: “our financial system is not strongly integrated into the international financial system as well as the relatively simple nature of financial product and strong capitalization and liquidity of Nigerian banks.
“However, there are many who have been aware for a while now that whereas the system is in general is likely to absorb and survive the effect of the crisis……. A few Nigerian banks mainly due to huge concentrations in their exposure to certain sectors, (capital market and oil and gas being the prominent ones), but due to the general weakness in risk management and corporate governance have remained continued to display signs of failure.”

Sanusi noted that as at October last year, some of the banks showed serious liquidity strain and had to be given financial support by the apex bank through its Expanded Discount Window where it extended credit facilities to banks on the basis of collateral in the form of Commercial Papers and Bankers Acceptances often of doubtful value.

According to him, the Nigerian banking industry as at June 4 when he assumed office as the apex bank helmsman, the total amount outstanding at the Expanded Discount Window was N256.571 billion and most of it was owed by the Five banks on which its sledge hammer fell upon.

Strains of the distress in the banking industry had been noticed under the former CBN Governor. To assist the banks to weather financial storm, the apex bank under Soludo had Expanded its Discount Window to enable the banks and discount houses borrow funds for as long as 360 days as against the overnight arrangement that was in place before. This measure sort of allowed the banks easy access to funds anytime they are in need.

The CBN had also reduced banks liquidity ratio to 30 per cent, from 40 per cent and freed some N1.7 trillion for their use. This enormously improved the liquidity of the banks.
As at the end of September 2008, the total shareholders’ funds of the banks stood at N2.7 trillion as against N293 billion in 2003. Soludo had said that even if the banks were to write off their entire exposures to the capital market, they would still have about N2 trillion shareholders’ funds saying that at this level the banking system would still be two times adequately capitalized.

Figures from the CBN also revealed that banks’ aggregate credit to the economy was in excess of N7 trillion, while their deposit base hit over N9 trillion. Between January and September 2008, about N2.2 trillion new credits were created by the banks.
“With these figures, the banks would still remain strong even if they decide to write off their exposures to the capital market at once,” Soludo had confidently said, noting that the value of the new credits were more than what the government had spent.

With these strong words, the CBN Governor laid to rest the controversy over the state of health of Nigerian banks.
But with the revelations from the new CBN Governor and the actions taken on Friday, the question now is, what has happened to the banking
industry in just these few months?




http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2009/aug/17/national-17-08-2009-04.htm



Read the bold lines carefully and u will believe that this CBN guy has something up his sleeves.

In all honesty, its to early to comment. i would like to keep my fingers cross. i have a grouse with the fact that he didnt have a full audit injstead of this partial audit, true some banks were in liquidity crisis, but as i said lets wait and see

i am sure Sanusi and his team are after something we dont know.
how can he suddenly turn the table round within this short period. the timing is too short to make things happen; unless, of course he is a wizard.

why did Sanusi start with these five? Unity bank is there if he wanted to sanitize. If he skipped that to go to these five, then he should have said why. Yaradua regime has brought back Savannah Bank. Then appointed Lamido with a clear northern bias. Lamido is now a major proponent of islamic banking as a life saver for the economy. Now he suddenly fires five bank executives. Interesting times await us.

shoboy9:

why did Sanusi start with these five? Unity bank is there if he wanted to sanitize. If he skipped that to go to these five, then he should have said why. Yaradua regime has brought back Savannah Bank. Then appointed Lamido with a clear northern bias. Lamido is now a major proponent of islamic banking as a life saver for the economy. Now he suddenly fires five bank executives. Interesting times await us.

If you take time to read the articles that have been posted since Friday, you will see why.

He (Sanusi) said these five banks were regular at the EDW (Expanded Discounted Window), the banks alone made up 90% of those borrowing from the CBN through the EDW. When he shut the EDW and guaranteed inter bank loans, the banks were still the one doing majority of the borrowing. Thats why he said the banks should be looked into first with other big banks.

I said the agenda is hidden under my bed.

Certainly,and there is already a covert move.Over 300billion has been earmarked for the shares and equities of these banks by would be new owners from the north.With the crash of nigerian stockmarket today,reducing these bank shares to penny stock and the cash at thier disposal, power will change hands in these banks soonest.Read my lips!!

let power change hands; those banks were already distressed by bad management

ARE WE SEEING WHY WE GET THE TYPE OF LEADERS WE HAVE NOW? JUST LOOK AT SOME OF THE POST SAYING HE HAS A HIDDEN AGENDA!!!!!
HMMMM THIS IS JUST VERY INSULTING.

IF IT IS NOT RIBADU BEING THE DOG OF OBASANJO
ITS LAMIDO HAVING AN AGENDA OF NORTHERNIZING THE BANKING INDUSTRY

WE ALWAYS FIND A REASON TO MURDER OUR LEADERS


WHY WERE OUR FIRST LEADERS OF THIS COUNTRY KILLED?

MAY GOD WASH THE CRYING BLOOD OF OUR FORE LEADERS THAT DID NOTHING SO THAT WE CAN BE FREE

EVEN IF IT IS A MALU CHASING FULANI THAT RUNS THE BANKING SECTOR AND OUR MONEY IS SECURE I DONT CARE.

SO WHAT IF IT IS THE NORTH THAT OWNS ALL THE BANKS ARE THEY NOT NIGERIANS ??

@posters

Central bank governor Lamido Sanusi had said the banks would be run as normal until new investors were found. However, investors are believed to have asked for trading in the shares to be halted.

We will see some near-term uncertainty in the naira as the scale of the problem is probably bigger than it is, i am sure at least 20 banks would fall under the axe if lamidos mantra "fairness"is followed.

i go take sidon look approach. Uba got cleared too

maybe opting 4 the presidency!

I wont be suprised, he is re-positioning himself for 2011, Yaradua might want to step down come 2011 to take care of his health. This guy will be good prospect.

well as i will say, a good actor bows down when ovation is loudest, the bank M.Ds spent alot of years on their seats, there should be a duration for the post of bank md, u cant be d md for life.power intoxicates,

coi:

i am sure Sanusi and his team are after something we dont know.
how can he suddenly turn the table round within this short period. the timing is too short to make things happen; unless, of course he is a wizard.

Soludo's 13-point reforms programme, chief among which was raising of minimum capital base to N25b and the inevitable consolidation, was also unveiled in his very first meeting with bankers' committee(all bank CEOs). That was July 4, 2004, less than two months after his ascension to the position. That was the Soluso shocker.

Have you ever been in a position to reform or revive a team?  The first thing a brilliant manager will do is to study the situation and come up with what he feels is the best approach to tackle the ills. Soludo came with his recapitalization policy less than two months after taking over and it was a success(to me), so the argument that Sanusi's action was too hasty holds no water.

Jarus:

Soludo's 13-point reforms programme, chief among which was raising of minimum capital base to N25b and the inevitable consolidation, was also unveiled in his very first meeting with bankers' committee(all bank CEOs). That was July 4, 2004, less than two months after his ascension to the position. That was the Soluso shocker.

Have you ever been in a position to reform or revive a team?  The first thing a brilliant manager will do is to study the situation and come up with what he feels is the best approach to tackle the ills. Soludo came with his recapitalization policy less than two months after taking over and it was a success(to me), so the argument that Sanusi's action was too hasty holds no water.

yaraDOA's 7 point agenda is still DOA two years later - maybe thats the pace Nigerians are looking for

May be you guys can go through this qoute from the guardian wether you will know truely if he is having a hidden agenda or not

Lamido Sanusi, the CBN Governor is in need of help. His assertive and courageous intervention in the banking sector through the sack of five Bank Managing Directors/Chief Executive officers is curiously being passed off by propagandists and conspiracy theorists as having ethnic and religious undertones. It's been said that all the affected MDs: Cecilia Ibru (Oceanic Bank), Erastus Akingbola (Intercontinental Bank Plc), Okey Nwosu (FinBank), Sebastian Adigwe (Afribank) and Barth Ebong (Union Bank) are Christians and Southerners, and that certainly, it must be that the CBN Governor is playing the script of some Northern power brokers who want to discredit Southerners and then pave the way for the take-over of some of the banks by Northern interests. Otherwise, one fellow insisted, why has the Sanusi axe not fallen on Unity Bank? They say it is further curious that it is only Southerners - mostly from the same area as the deposed bank MDs (with the exception of the Union Bank MD) who have been brought in as interim managers of the banks: a clever move to justify a future Northern take-over especially now that the North is in charge of all the strategic sectors of the economy: the latest being the appointment of a Northerner also as Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs? My take on this is that the ethnic and religious argument is completely irrelevant.
The events of the last 72 hours in the Nigerian banking sector have nothing to do with whether or not Erastus Akingbola says his bank is built on the foundation of Christ, or that Mrs Ibru is a prominent member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). Nigeria's banking industry is dominated by Southerners, it is only logical that most of the casualties in this kind of house-cleaning exercise would also come from the South. The present action is the outcome of a CBN audit of 10 banks, we can safely expect that more bank MDs will be removed in due course, and it wouldn't matter whether they are Southerners or Northerners, Moslem, pagan or Christian. Commentators on the development should focus on the facts of the case, while Lamido Sanusi and his team need to work harder on their communication of the details and import of what can be regarded for want of a better term as Sanusi's own Consolidation Exercise or Consolidation Phase II. A proper communication strategy is imperative in order not to over-energise the rumour/speculation mill which appears to have been unwittingly activated by the aggressiveness of the action.
The surprise element in the CBN action and the courage that has been displayed can be sympathetically underscored. We knew all along that Nigerian banks in the face of the global financial meltdown and the crisis in the stock market, made worse by the bank's over-exposure through margin loans and unsecured advances and bad investment in the downstream sector were mostly unhealthy. What Sanusi's CBN has now done is to expose the severity of the crisis. The former CBN Governor, Charles Soludo had tried to manage the situation. Being the architect of the consolidation process in the banking sector, he must have been reluctant to expose the banks. He tried to give the ailing banks a chance by introducing a number of measures including the Expanded Discount Window in the hope that they will clean up their acts. But the banks and their managers were mostly insincere. Poor risk management, corporate abuses, incompetence continued apace in the banking sector and more attention was paid to hype.
Research analysts who should have provided a honest analysis of the situation spoke from both ends of the mouth. While some analysts predicted a looming distress, other analysts praised the banks to high heavens. Africa Report, a special publication of Jeune Afrique which was one of the last to blow the whistle on Nigerian banks, and which in the face of counter-intelligenc e responses stood firmly by its story, as well as Proshare Nigeria which in its 2008 Annual Report wrote confidently about the present crisis, must now feel vindicated. About a year ago, Intercontinental Bank even issued a statement protesting about de-marketing within the industry. There is a big lesson in all of this about reality and appearances. Three of the affected banks are what will be regarded in Nigerian parlance as big banks: Union Bank, Oceanic Bank and Intercontinental Bank. These are banks which have always won local and international awards. Their boards boast of recipients of the country's National Honours, and university honorary degrees! Media houses were also not left out in the race to decorate both the banks and their leaders with diadem: Best Bank of the Year, Most Improved Bank of the Year, CEO of the Year etc. Now all of that has gone burst. The same Bank MDs that we used to admire and who had so much clout locally and internationally have now been described by the CBN as reckless and incompetent. Take Erastus Akingbola. He is Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Second Vice President of the Nigeria Stock Exchange, Pro-Chancellor of a University, holder of multiple honorary degrees and a national honour awardee. The humiliation for the persons involved must be painful.
But let this be said: the CBN must share part of the blame. It presided over the same rot that it is now trying to clean up. The failure of the regulatory authority cannot be excused on the grounds that the banks refused to make proper submissions and disclosures. Institutional failure explains the kind of abuses that characterise the banking system in Nigeria; for too long, the apex bank looked the other way as the banks abandoned core banking and professional services and chased quick gains. In fact this same CBN once told us that Nigerian banks are insulated from the effect of the global financial meltdown. So, what has changed? It is the same CBN Board of the past five years that is still in place. There has been no departmental restructuring at the CBN institutional level. Only one thing has changed at the CBN: the arrival of a new CBN Governor, Lamido Sanusi. Determined to make an impact, Mr Sanusi has so far been focussing on the assignment and he has brought to the job, a sense of purpose and independent- mindedness. His first strike was to tell the Federal Government the home truth on the seven-point agenda: forget about seven points he said, priotise, concentrate on two or three. His second major strike is this earth-shaking coup against five Bank MDs. We must note that in the eyes of the ordinary man, these were not banks that were failing. They were run by high-profile public figures. There are many persons without doubt who will swear by the name Union Bank, for example: big, strong and reliable?
It takes a lot of courage for Lamido Sanusi to take on these sacred cows as it were, and to confront them with the facts of their negligence and the force of the powers of the CBN. If his intention is indeed a continuation of the Consolidation Process initiated by Professor Charles Soludo, then there must be proper articulation of follow up steps in terms of how the apex bank hopes to enforce a return to core banking while strengthening its own regulatory functions. Margin loans are not the only problematic advances and in truth, the crisis may be more serious than the failure to manage risk effectively. A realistic assessment of what the CBN can or cannot achieve must be attempted, and how the interim managers intervene in the process should be of great interest so that the CBN does not in the long run create more problems than it initially set out to correct. Three useful questions in my view: what are the criteria for the selection of the interim managers? Shouldn't the stocks of the banks have been placed on suspension before this action? And where are those lying auditors who have all along certified the accounts of these banks as true and correct? Sanusi had promised to restore confidence in the banking system. That confidence is now severely shaken. Banking is a business built on trust. If Union Bank, Oceanic Bank, Afribank, Finbank and Intercontinental Bank could unravel as they have, then ordinary people would be tempted to panic and take out their money from the banks. But the CBN must ensure that this ends up only as a short-term, short-lived response and that depositors are reassured of safety.
The CBN Governor has disclosed that a sum of N400 billion will be provided to stabilise the affected banks. Obviously the five MDs had to go because the CBN cannot trust them to manage the bail-out funds well. But since the N400 billion is public funds, it is Nigerians who are being short-changed although we have been assured that this is only a loan which will be repaid as soon as the banks are in a position to do so. We can only hope so, for the amount is big enough to address part of the grievances of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). It could be used to make a difference in the health and power sectors too, now all that money is to be used to subsidise the failure of corporate governance in the banking sector, and to correct the distress that was caused by CEO inattention and auditor negligence. There should be much deeper investigation and where criminal negligence and greed can be established, persons should be prosecuted, and any Bernard Madoff in the system must be unmasked. The CBN has made scapegoats out of five Bank MDs. The debtors, auditors and stockbrokers who have contributed to this problem should also be brought to book. The CBN should go ahead and publish their names and bring in the law enforcement agencies. We hold on in this regard to Sanusi's words when he concluded as follows: "We will not allow any bank to fail. However, we will also ensure that officers of banks and debtors who contribute to bank failures are brought to book to the full extent of the law and that all proceeds of infraction are confiscated where legally feasible."
Fourteen additional banks are undergoing audit; clearly by year-end, the present restart mode into which the banking sector is locked would have run its course leaving behind a more realistic ranking of the banks with only the real players left in the game. The banks that survive should not just hope to reap the gains of the process or indulge in needless grandstanding and one-upmanship, rather this should be seen as an opportunity to learn useful lessons and to upgrade their performance, and their share capital, more so as the possibility of increased foreign investment in the sector is foreseeable within the next 24 months. Bank shareholders who stand to suffer more losses in the stock market beginning from this week, and who have a right to be angry, may also have to modify their expectations; size and hype we have all learnt do not determine a bank's health, what matters more is the quality of its governance

Culled from Guardian

It's so pathetic that Nigerians always return to their convenient cocoon of tribal and religious sentiments when officials genuinely undertake their assignments with all sincerity, Most times, when a Yoruba thief was caught, his kith and kin would cry blue murder that he was being 'persecuted' becuase he was Yoruba, The same thing goes on with other major tribes- Hausa and Igbo, If a Muslim/Christian stole and he was tried, his fellow religious adherents would claim he was punished because of his faith,

I am a Yoruba through and through (both parents) and I dare say that informed minds recognize that Sanusi just did what he had to do: what dispassionate, unbiased, and unfettered professionals had been clamouring for over the years, That our banks generally lack robust risk management and governance structures; and evidently the gravity of the inadequacies in some banks outweigh others,

I read a comment about Unity Bank not being touched because of its Northern origin and I laugh, Did you know that Unity Bank might likely escape the hammer? The reason is simple, At a recent private function (several months before the wind of change and during Soludo's tenure, for emphasis), the MD of Unity Bank claimed that he does not even know why there was so much noise about margin lending (lending to customers who bought bank and other companies' shares) and downstream lending (lending to clients, most of whom built tank farms); he said before he could find out, the lending market was already saturated!!! While this does not mean that Unity Bank had the best risk management structure, it shows that because they didn't partake in the lending bazaar- either by way of ignorance as depicted by their MD, or deliberate internal policies, they are likely to be free!!!

If the truth must be told:

Are the 5 banks not guilty of reckless lending?
Didn't they go on a lending bazaar?
Were their massive indebtedness on inter-bank in doubt?
Did they perpetually borrow from the Expanded Discount Window( EDW)?
Did the sacked CEOs live 'depositors-fate-doesn't-bother-me' lifestyles?
Are the symptoms in those banks not similar to the bad precedent of bank chiefs few year ago during the Failed Banks Tribunal era?
Aside from the reasons adduced by the CBN, would staff of these banks honestly confess to so many 'dubious deductions' from their salaries lately before the hammer fell?
Did one of the banks not put a withdrawal ceiling on customer accounts recently owing to liquidity problems?
Wasn't this the same thing that caused people like 'highly respected' Femi Adekanye, prolific banking author and a former bank CEO- Commerce Bank (and former CIBN President for that matter) to be jailed and disgraced by the Failed Banks Tribunal?

I can go on and on, NIGERIANS LET'S FACE FACTS, I am a senior banker too and I know certainly that some of my family members, friends, acquaintances, family friends, current and former professional colleagues work in ALL the five banks affected. I also know that people especially love Mama Ibru and Mr Akingbola (among the 5 CEOs fired), BUT THE TRUTH HAS TO BE TOLD!!! NO SENTIMENTS!!!

Parochial Nigerians should leave Sanusi alone! He means well and he needed to rein in on our profligate bank executives, People should read informed reactions and commendation of Sanusi from the papers- See a former ICAN President- L. Owoyemi's comments in the Punch of yesterday and several other comments from 'real thorough-bred professionals', not the many ethnic jingoists and religious fanatics on several blogspots and chat rooms in Nigeria, Even those in the Diaspora who should know better are not any different,

People should read Sanusi's interviews in the ThisDay newsaper of last Sunday and in the Punch of yesterday, Or lazy bones could type his name on 'google search engine' and see the plethora of articles and speeches by Sanusi several years before he became CBN Governor,

People should talk to senior people at UBA and FBN who worked with or who knew Sanusi; they'd tell you that he is fortright, intelligent, urbane, considerate, consultative and uncompromising, And knowledgable!!! This is not to say that he is a saint tough,

FOR EMPHASIS: NIGERIA'S PROGRESS WOULD REMAIN A PIPE DREAM IF ALL WE COULD DO IS TO CRITICIZE GENUINE POLICY DECISIONS ON THE BASIS OF ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS, NO WONDER WE ARE WHERE WE ARE!!!

And in case some people come out of their rat holes to slam me, the writer is a senior executive in a bank,

DTaj:

It's so pathetic that Nigerians always return to their convenient cocoon of tribal and religious sentiments when officials genuinely undertake their assignments with all sincerity, Most times, when a Yoruba thief was caught, his kith and kin would cry blue murder that he was being 'persecuted' becuase he was Yoruba, The same thing goes on with other major tribes- Hausa and Igbo, If a Muslim/Christian stole and he was tried, his fellow religious adherents would claim he was punished because of his faith,

I am a Yoruba through and through (both parents) and I dare say that informed minds recognize that Sanusi just did what he had to do: what dispassionate, unbiased, and unfettered professionals had been clamouring for over the years, That our banks generally lack robust risk management and governance structures; and evidently the gravity of the inadequacies in some banks outweigh others,

I read a comment about Unity Bank not being touched because of its Northern origin and I laugh, Did you know that Unity Bank might likely escape the hammer? The reason is simple, At a recent private function (several months before the wind of change and during Soludo's tenure, for emphasis), the MD of Unity Bank claimed that he does not even know why there was so much noise about margin lending (lending to customers who bought bank and other companies' shares) and downstream lending (lending to clients, most of whom built tank farms); he said before he could find out, the lending market was already saturated!!! While this does not mean that Unity Bank had the best risk management structure, it shows that because they didn't partake in the lending bazaar- either by way of ignorance as depicted by their MD, or deliberate internal policies, they are likely to be free!!!

If the truth must be told:

Are the 5 banks not guilty of reckless lending?
Didn't they go on a lending bazaar?
Were their massive indebtedness on inter-bank in doubt?
Did they perpetually borrow from the Expanded Discount Window( EDW)?
Did the sacked CEOs live 'depositors-fate-doesn't-bother-me' lifestyles?
Are the symptoms in those banks not similar to the bad precedent of bank chiefs few year ago during the Failed Banks Tribunal era?
Aside from the reasons adduced by the CBN, would staff of these banks honestly confess to so many 'dubious deductions' from their salaries lately before the hammer fell?
Did one of the banks not put a withdrawal ceiling on customer accounts recently owing to liquidity problems?
Wasn't this the same thing that caused people like 'highly respected' Femi Adekanye, prolific banking author and a former bank CEO- Commerce Bank (and former CIBN President for that matter) to be jailed and disgraced by the Failed Banks Tribunal?

I can go on and on, NIGERIANS LET'S FACE FACTS, I am a senior banker too and I know certainly that some of my family members, friends, acquaintances, family friends, current and former professional colleagues work in ALL the five banks affected. I also know that people especially love Mama Ibru and Mr Akingbola (among the 5 CEOs fired), BUT THE TRUTH HAS TO BE TOLD!!! NO SENTIMENTS!!!

Parochial Nigerians should leave Sanusi alone! He means well and he needed to rein in on our profligate bank executives, People should read informed reactions and commendation of Sanusi from the papers- See a former ICAN President- L. Owoyemi's comments in the Punch of yesterday and several other comments from 'real thorough-bred professionals', not the many ethnic jingoists and religious fanatics on several blogspots and chat rooms in Nigeria, Even those in the Diaspora who should know better are not any different,

People should read Sanusi's interviews in the ThisDay newsaper of last Sunday and in the Punch of yesterday, Or lazy bones could type his name on 'google search engine' and see the plethora of articles and speeches by Sanusi several years before he became CBN Governor,

People should talk to senior people at UBA and FBN who worked with or who knew Sanusi; they'd tell you that he is fortright, intelligent, urbane, considerate, consultative and uncompromising, And knowledgable!!! This is not to say that he is a saint tough,

FOR EMPHASIS: NIGERIA'S PROGRESS WOULD REMAIN A PIPE DREAM IF ALL WE COULD DO IS TO CRITICIZE GENUINE POLICY DECISIONS ON THE BASIS OF ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS, NO WONDER WE ARE WHERE WE ARE!!!

And in case some people come out of their rat holes to slam me, the writer is a senior executive in a bank,

Thank you Dtaj for your informed comment.
We have continued to enlighten them but they refuse to get themselves extricated from the stranglehold of tribal jingoism.

I have researched enough on Sanusi, read virtually all his articles since 1997 to have an idea about his thinking.
I was forced to write the article 'THE SANUSI LAMIDO I DIDN'T KNOW'(http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=147240%20-) after my research. I have spoken with people close to him, especially in UBA. Atedo Peterside, the Rivers-born investment banking guru, who had known Sanusi since their secondary school days in Kings College, Lagos, has spoken volume on sanusi's ability. If this guy had been a southerner, we would have called him a genius, but because he's from a tribe not known for producing more genuises, we all read undue meaning to his bold move.

@Dtaj,
I have also mentioned the Adekanye issue in another thread.

Leadership is like a Child.

The difference between the Elite and leaders is now becoming clear. You will soon see a dozen articles in news papers. Just keep watching. The Parasitic elite in nigeria are the real strangle holders.

You will see they start telling you how they have been victimised just simply because they attend church once a week on sunday or because they say Yoruba Yoruba and eat amala or they eat Eba igbo and say Nna everytime.

They will involve the same people(our traditional rulers not leaders) that sold majority of us as slaves. They will tell you there is a script written by some cow chasing Hausa man.

Watch very well if one northerner was involved in this action they will say oh the script was written by Yara dua.

The Elite are now becoming clear the dangerous few that has sworn that nigeria will not prosper. They say if it is not them Nigeria must burn they are ones that used brilliant and fearless soldier as Kaduna Nzeogu and ifeajuna to kill the first leader of Nigeria.

The blood of so many are on there heads. The Parasitic elite will never die for Nigeria. The poor send their sons to the army be it Yoruba Igbo or Hausa and other tribes but the Parasitic elite have all and can even go on strike.

A good leader will identify this Parasitic Elite bring them to order and damn the consequences. YOU CAN NEVER GET RID OF THE ELITE IF YOU DO THE SITUATION WOULD BE WORSE.

When this elite want a pay rise they get it, they are murderous when the dont get what they want. They are so invincible.

@ jarus I was able to go through your story on Lamido Sanusi I dont know on before you even paste it here on naira land and I was able to read many other personal article you use to publish, all this make me respect you but the fact still remains that no matter what this guy (Lamido Sanusi) put in place in other to rectify the abnormalities left behind by this so call MD ceos, people will still critize him for religion and ethnic biasness, what i think is that we need total reorientation of the Nigerian masses see what i wrote above, it was culled from a national dailies for God sake this total craziness(I apologize for that bad language have got no option),let us all come together and fight this corruption with our own hands. As sefago rightly said the other time that America are also corrupt but they don’t just allow it to overwhelm them, by supporting Lamido Sanusi we can articulate the fight against corruption, even if he(Lamido) too tends to lean towards it(corruption) we can correct him too. This is our country and we do not have any other place to call our own rather can we invite people outside to run our things for us. God bless Nigeria.

haboosa:

@ jarus I was able to go through your story on Lamido Sanusi I dont know on before you even paste it here on naira land and I was able to read many other personal article you use to publish, all this make me respect you but the fact still remains that no matter what this guy (Lamido Sanusi) put in place in other to rectify the abnormalities left behind by this so call MD ceos, people will still critize him for religion and ethnic biasness, what i think is that we need total reorientation of the Nigerian masses see what i wrote above, it was culled from a national dailies for God sake this total craziness(I apologize for that bad language have got no option),let us all come together and fight this corruption with our own hands. As sefago rightly said the other time that America are also corrupt but they don’t just allow it to overwhelm them, by supporting Lamido Sanusi we can articulate the fight against corruption, even if he(Lamido) too tends to lean towards it(corruption) we can correct him too. This is our country and we do not have any other place to call our own rather can we invite people outside to run our things for us. God bless Nigeria.

You have to remember most of these guys like the politicians own the media houses in nigeria
what happened to all the awards they(media) gave these bankers and their banks, without seeing their balance
sheet?

Dis Guy:

You have to remember most of these guys like the politicians own the media houses in nigeria
what happened to all the awards they(media) gave these bankers and their banks, without seeing their balance
sheet?

The most pitiable part is that there are ways of hiding these things from balance sheet.
Imagine the huge margin loans. No disclosure, no provision.

I am not politically minded so wouldn't know if Sanusi is following any hidden agenda. I came across this write up and wonder if this is what is actually happening,


Group plots takeover of five top banks
Written by Omoh Gabriel & Emeka Mamah
Monday, March 23, 2009

LAGOS—ANTI-CONSOLIDATION forces have regrouped with the hope of dismantling the structures and forcing a takeover of the top five banks in the country, Vanguard can now reveal.

The grand plan by the group is to cause panic and uncertainty in the industry and make the target banks look unsafe for depositors.
Meantime, indications emerged yesterday that the Federal Government may announce the names of a new Governor of the Central Bank (CBN) and the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF) in April just a few weeks before the tenure of the incumbents run out.
However, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has expressed concern over what it described as the rapidly deteriorating liquidity situation in the banking industry and tasked the Central Bank (CBN) to make public information on causes of the development as well as the scale of the crisis.
Vanguard investigations revealed that the aim of the anti-consolidation forces is to cause loss of public confidence in the banking industry and compel the Federal Government to move in by injecting funds. Further, they ultimately plan to instigate government to take equity holdings in the targeted banks.
Vanguard gathered that the group at work is made up of former bank owners who lost out during the consolidation exercise, a powerful clique in the present government, and some aggrieved persons in three of the six geopolitical zones in the country who felt left out in the consolidation exercise.
Presidency sources disclosed that those who felt left out in the consolidation exercise are up in arms to recoup what they felt they lost during Obasanjo years.
Part of the plans hatched by the group is to ensure that the incumbent Governor of the Central Bank, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, does not get a second term. The plan is also to ensure that whatever gains consolidation recorded are discredited. This, it was learnt, was meant to force the President to act quickly in the matter of appointment of a successor to Soludo as they anticipate that the president’s slow move may scuttle their dreams and cause the renewal of Soludo’s re-appointment for a second term.
The group’s second game plan is to make Nigerian banks look unsafe in the eye of the banking public. Part of the game is to spread rumours that some banks are unsound and are on the verge of collapse. They send out text messages to individuals and account holders passing wrong information on their target banks. At the moment, the group’s target is one of the high-flying new generation banks where they have sent out several messages.
New CBN Gov, Auditor-General to emerge April
The tenure of the CBN Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo and Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. O. R. Ejenavi from Delta State will lapse in May 2009.
Naming nominees for the top jobs, according to a presidency source, will afford the Senate ample opportunity to work on them before they assume office.
While Soludo will complete his first term in office as CBN governor by May 29, Ejenavi will be due for retirement on age grounds on May 18.
However, among those being considered for the position of CBN governor include the Minister of National Planning, Dr Shamsuddeen Usman from Kano, who was a former Finance minister and deputy governor at the apex bank; another former CBN deputy governor, Obadiah Mailafia from Nassarawa, Mallam Isa Hayatudeen from Borno, a former managing director of FSB International Bank, incumbent Managing Director of First Bank, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, also from Kano, and Mallam Falalu Bello from Kaduna, Managing Director, Unity Bank.
But the most touted name so far is that of Mallam Isa Yuguda, the Bauchi State governor who won election on the platform of the All Nigeria peoples Party, ANPP, but defected to the ruling PDP last week. Yuguda is also an in-law of President Umaru Yar’Adua. Yuguda was also a former Managing Director of Inland Bank, a legacy bank in post-consolidation FinBank.
Past CBN governors include late Dr. Clement Isong (Akwa-Ibom), Alhaji Adamu Ciroma (Yobe); Mr. Ola Vincent (Lagos), late Alhaji Abdulkadir Ahmed (Bauchi); Mr. Paul Ogwuma (Abia), Dr. Joseph Sanusi (Ondo) and the current Professor Charles Soludo (Anambra).
It was also gathered that strict obedience to civil service rules will be observed in the appointment of a new Auditor General for the Federation going by the constitutional provision.
Section 86 Subsection 1 of the 1999 constitution states: “the Auditor-General for the Federation shall be appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Federal Civil Service Commission, subject to the confirmation of the Senate.” That of the CBN may be determined by other factors, mostly political considerations which are at the pleasure of the President without recourse to the commission.
The most senior director in the office of the Auditor-General currently is Mr. Ogunsina G.F from Ekiti State who may be appointed unless there is political maneuvering. Having been a director since 2004, it may not be smooth sailing for Ogunsina because, there is another senior civil servant Mr. Osonuga T. A. from Ogun State who was promoted a director in 2007 and is being propelled by other forces to occupy the office.
It’s unfortunate top 5 banks are targeted, says official
A CBN official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that it is unfortunate that top five banks are the target. The banks, he said, are sound. The CBN had mistaken in the past the ongoing move as de-marketing by competitors in the banking industry, saying it is unhealthy competition.
The group is using this means to make depositors panic and undertake massive withdrawal of funds from the targeted banks in an attempt to cause liquidity problem in the bank. In that state they hope to cause a take over by the government which may buy a stake in the bank and later sell to members of the privileged group who may be appointed in the interim into the board of the banks.
Arewa worries over liquidity problem
However, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) expressed concern over what it described as the rapidly deteriorating liquidity situation in the banking industry and tasked the Central Bank (CBN) to inform the people the cause of the development as well as the scale of the crisis.
ACF said that the commercial banks must have obviously lent too much money to people who either invested them in buying stocks or in the importation of petroleum products in the country, but are unable to repay such loans.
A statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the Forum, Mr. Anthony Sani however blamed the CBN for enquiring “into the volume of the so-called toxic assets of the commercial banks while refusing to tell Nigerians how or why in the first place, the banks found themselves in trouble.
The statement reads “The Working Committee of the National Executive Council of the Arewa Consultative
Forum (ACF) held its meeting at its national headquarters in Kaduna on Tuesday, the 17th of March 2009. In attendance were all National officers of the ACF drawn from the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). General IBM Haruna, the Chairman presided.
“Among other things, the meeting reviewed and discussed a number of issues and other troubling developments in the country. At the end, it resolved to issue the following statement.
“The ACF deliberated on the rapidly deteriorating liquidity situation in the banking industry and observed that Nigerians are feeling increasingly frustrated by the failure of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to disclose the true the true nature and the scale of the crisis.
“Even members of the National Assembly, despite their best efforts, have been unable to get to the truth of the matter.
According to Arewa consultative forum “All that seem obvious is that our commercial banks had lent out too much money to too many people who had invested them in stocks or petroleum importation but who are now unable to pay back. Beyond that, the public has no clear idea as how or why the loans were given and on what terms."

Yar Adua and Sanusi should make good their threats of arresting defaulters now that the CBN has released the names of the huge debtors. Their inability to arrest the likes of the owner of Rahamanniya who is the President's son in law and Dangote (from Sanusi's town- kano) would expose the whole thing.

In what is considered an effort to diffuse the blame on the liquidity challenge in the banking sector, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday released the names of debtors – mostly shareholders/directors – who secured loans totalling N747 billion from the five banks whose executives were sacked last Friday.
A breakdown of the loans, which are classified as non-performing, is as follows: Oceanic Bank Plc, N278.204 billion or 37 per cent; Intercontinental Bank Plc, N210 .903 billion or 28 per cent; Afribank Nigeria Plc, N141.856 billion or 19 per cent; Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, N73.582 billion or 9.8 per cent; and FinBank Plc, N42.445 billion or 5.6 per cent.
The two biggest debtors to Intercontinental Bank are Ascot Offshore Nigeria Limited through which Henry Imasekha along with three others secured N44.67 billion and Rockson Engineering Limited through which Engineer J.1. Arumemi-Ikhide and his wife secured N36.989 billion.
Oceanic Bank on the other hand, has Notore Chemical Industries Limited, which borrowed N32.392 billion and Rahamaniyya Global Resources through which Abdul Rahaman Musa Bashir got N28.598 billion.
The two principal debtors to Union Bank are Transnational Corp Plc, in which the Director-General of the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE), Dr. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke is a director/major shareholder, which borrowed N30.863 billion on behalf of the company and MTS First Wireless Limited through which Chief Lulu Briggs secured N9.849 billion.
Afribank has Kolvey Company Limited, which borrowed N16.5 billion and Rehoboth Assets Limited through which five of the Ajaegbu families got N28.598 billion.
The two key debtors to FinBank are Aquitane Oil and Gas which borrowed N3.656 billion and Falcon Securities through which it’s Managing Director, Peter Ololo, who is currently cooling off with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja secured N3.49 billion.


couple of question?
i know rockson is still being owed billions by the federal goverment

SACKED BANK MDs LATEST: Billionaire owes bank N70bn
- As CBN declares war on serial borrowers
- Begins forensic auditing of 22 banks
- Recovers N5bn loan from customer owing N18bn
- Massive withdrawals at affected banks
- CBN gov in crucial meeting with EFCC’s boss.

AS the storm in the banking sector rages, it has been revealed that a certain billionaire businessman is owing one of the troubled banks about N70 billion, while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has reportedly recovered about N5 billion from another businessman, who owed another troubled bank about N18 billion. While the Managing Director of the bank which gave the N70 billion loan, allegedly without due process, was among those sacked last Friday by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the boss of the bank that loaned the N18 billion is said to be among those on the next sack-list.

But President Umaru Yar’Adua who was said to have been alarmed by the magnitude of the rot in the banking sector, had directed that all the money owed the troubled banks should be recovered by the security agencies. Indications have also emerged that the EFCC had swung into action to get the five sacked managing directors arrested. Operatives of the commission were said to have moved into Lagos from Abuja and had tightened the noose on the affected bankers, with a source saying that they might be taken in late yesterday or today.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/18082009/news/news14.html






How bad Intercontinental Bank was before CBN hammer

Facts emerged over the weekend on how bad the situation was in some of the banks affected by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) hammer on their management. Among the facts that emerged was the severe situation of the case of Intercontinental Bank plc. BusinessDay learnt over the weekend that, Erastus Akingbola, the former managing director, gave out N250 billion to his associate companies which was used to buy shares in bank. Indeed, 78 percent of Intercontinental Bank’s shareholders’ funds were eroded, according to the CBN findings. It was learnt that Intercontinental had bad books in oil and gas as well as real estate. This had prompted the former CBN governor, Chukwuma Soludo to bail out the bank few months ago. Soludo had saved the bank because he realised there would be a systemic problem and that there was problem with the country’s income as at that time and therefore advised the president, Umaru Yar’Adua, accordingly. It was also gathered that Intercontinental Bank had gone into discussions with Access Bank and Fidelity Bank towards a merger such that Akingbola would have been chairman and the incumbent management structures would remain. “He was trying to save himself but unfortunately the CBN refused to endorse the merger proposal because his own case was too glaring and too bad. When he realised he was being pushed to the wall, he decided to lobby and when lobby failed, he decided to rubbish the three petroleum importers owed N35 billion”, the source said.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com






NSE Suspends Trading On Shares Of Troubled Banks

The shares of Oceanic Bank, Afribank, Intercontinental Bank, Finbank, and Union Bank were suspended by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, the first working day after their Managing Directors (MDs) were fired last Friday. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Sanusi, announced their sack, relying on the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA).

NSE Director General Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, briefed journalists after a meeting with stockbrokers on Monday, where she noted the request by stockbrokers for the CBN to disclose the full list of bank MDs to be fired during this industry audit. She said they want all the names announced in the next round, once and for all, to make it easy for every one to absorb the shock without prolonging the agony. When full suspension is placed on the shares of a company, such shares are not traded on the NSE for as long as the action subsists. It is mostly done when a company decides to engage in share reconstruction, and is unlike technical suspension where people can still buy and sell their shares, except that price is frozen due to plans by the company to either raise fresh capital from the primary market, distribute bonus and or dividend. Okereke-Onyiuke displayed a letter from the CBN to formerly inform the market of its action.

http://www.independentngonline.com/news/tfpg/article02







Pharmaceutical manufacturers set to meet local demand by 2015

PHARMACEUTICAL manufacturers have set a target to locally manufacture 80 per cent of drug demand in Nigeria by year 2015. Chairman, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (PMG-MAN), Dr. Joseph Odumodu disclosed this during the 2009 pharmacy week organised by the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN). Odumodu stressed the need for pharmaceutical manufacturers to build the necessary infrastructure and competency to meet the aggressive growth challenge. "No manufacturers can operate in the next three to five years without a functional and robust quality operations system in place. We must improve the standards or go into other businesses", he said.

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/business/article02//indexn2_






At Last, Otedola, Dangote Settle Differences

The swords have been sheathed in the long-drawn battle between two friends and business giants, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Mr. Femi Otedola, who had been at each other’s neck for nearly a year. In a truce brokered by the Editor-in-Chief and Chairman of THISDAY, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, and other friends of the business moguls last Sunday, the two men decided to bury the hatchet and forge a new bond. They had been invited separately for breakfast at Roberts Café, Victoria Island, Lagos , completely unaware of what was in the offing until they “bumped” into each other at the café. Obaigbena had been speaking to the two men individually before their misunderstanding over the purchase of Texaco became a media war, but the mediation had only succeeded in curtailing the public nature of the fight. At the reconciliation meeting on Sunday, they finally saw eye-to-eye for the first time in months as they spoke to each other at length, shook hands, asked frank questions and gave what were considered to be honest answers as to the source of their differences. To the delight of their friends, they made a solemn pledge to let “bygone be bygone”. They vowed to restore their confidence as friends, as Otedola acknowledged Dangote as his “elder brother” and “mentor”, promising to give Dangote his “due respect”.

Dangote, on his part, pledged to look after his “younger brother” and “protégé”. When Obaigbena asked the two billionaires to apologise to each other, Otedola seized the initiative. He cut in and said that in Yoruba tradition, Dangote was his senior and it was therefore unnecessary for the Kano-born sugar and cement giant to apologise, as only the junior apologises to the senior. They both agreed to end the long-running media war and withdraw all court cases related to the disagreement. The meeting ended with the declaration of “no victor, no vanquished” by the two parties. After the meeting, which was witnessed by Mr. Nduka Irabor, for chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Communications, and Mr. Albert Okumagba, the CEO of BGL Ltd, among others, the two billionaires drove together to Dangote’s house. Otedola also invited Dangote over to his office this Friday.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=151958






CBN withdraws N110.5bn from circulation

ACTIVITIES at the Open Market Operation (OMO) wing of the money market showed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) withdrew N110.5 billion from circulation, last week. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the CBN also raked in N35.39 billion from the OMO and N75.11 billion on bills at the Primary Market Auction (PMA), respectively. The CBN, in its weekly report made available to NAN, said investors’ needs were met as the apex bank sold to them what they wanted. At the OMO segment, on Tuesday and Wednesday, the CBN sold 30-day tenor bills worth N20 billion and 30-day tenor bills worth N6.21 billion respectively. The following day, the apex bank sold 30-day tenor bill worth N5.67 billion and 7-day tenor worth N3.51 billion respectively. The report said for all the four bills, bidders got all that they bidded for and the bills would mature on September 10, 11, 12 and 20 respectively. The bid rates and issue rates on the bills stood at 9.00 per cent respectively but it, however, made a deficit of N35.39 billion at the OMO segment.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/18082009/news/news14.html







$659m revenue loss: NEITI report indicts NNPC, DPR, Chevron, Mobil

The loopholes inherent in the exploration and processing of crude oil in the country have cost Nigeria a revenue loss of $659million, as the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) indicted the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Department of Pertroleum Resources, Chevron and Mobil. NEITI, in the highlights of Audit 2005 report released to the public on Monday, said it was worying that Nigeria knew the quantity of crude oil it was exporting but could not say how many barrels of oil it produced. According to the report, the major avenue of loss of revenue included underpayment of royalties, non remittance by the NNPC of what it received from the sale of domestic drude, underpayment to the Niger Delta Development Commissiuon by the oil companies, difference in the lifted quantity of crude oil between the terminal operators and the companies making the lifting and the general poor record keeping on the part of the regulators. For example, NEITI said the possible shortfall in the payments of royalties and Peroleum Profit Tax resulted from anomaly in the interpretation and application of the MoU clauses is estimated at $309.9million for Petroleum Profit Tax and $249.9 for royalties.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/18082009/news/news4.html

@dis guy,Jarus can u see this giant step from EFCC just this morning.i think Nigerian should be re-orientated so that they can stop there uneccessary propaganda

EFCC Detains 11 Bank Executives
By Rotimi Durojaiye, Tunde Opeseitan (Lagos) David Agba and Alexandra Mede (Abuja)
The story of the five troubled banks turned into a roller coaster on Tuesday: with arrests, counter accusations, and litigation demanding N50 billion in damages all thrown into the mix, plus a threat by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to declare some bank executives wanted if they fail to show up for interrogation.

Eleven bank executives have been arrested, after the sack of five Managing Directors (MDs) last Friday by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Lamido Sanusi.

Those in the custody of the EFCC are Okey Nwosu (former FinBank MD), Barth Ebong (former Union Bank MD), Peter Ololo (MD Falcon Security, a subsidiary of FinBank), and Sebastian Adigwe (former Afribank MD), Felicia Sonubi (Oceanic Trustees MD), and Ayodele Thomas (Oceanic Securities MD).

Others are Abiodun Taiwo (International Capital Market MD), Abubakar Magaji (Intercontinental Trustees MD), Adegboye Adewoyi (Intercontinental Securities MD), Alex Duruike (First Inland Securities MD), and Emmanuel Okonji (First Inland Capital Market MD).

EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Femi Babafemi, confirmed the arrests, as well as the fact that other bank executives may be declared wanted if they fail to honour invitations.

Babafemi disclosed in Abuja that EFCC Chairman, Farida Waziri, has been informed that (some) bank officials have fled their homes.

"They have, however, been watch listed so it is difficult for them to leave the country," he added.

"(Waziri) is already considering the option of declaring them wanted if they fail to honour a simple invitation."

Another source said the EFCC has recovered N5 billion from N18 billion loan someone took from a bank (name withheld) that is on the next list of banks to face the wrath of the CBN.

Those on the list of the EFCC include Erastus Akingbola (former Intercontinental Bank MD), Cecilia Ibru (former Oceanic Bank MD), Ben Nwoji (Afribank Trustees MD), and Henry Onyemem (Union Trustees MD).

The source said they have been watch listed to make it difficult for them to escape out of Nigeria, saying some of them have tried to leave.

"We have been in touch with their homes and their offices so we know they have got the invitations," the source maintained.

It was learnt that the EFCC has been investigating banks since 2008 over money laundering.

The source added that the EFCC has charged a lot of bank debtors to court, citing the case sof Patrick Fernandez, the Indian who owes a bank N32 billion, and Funmi Ademosun, who owes Intercontinental N17 billion.

However, Akingbola has gone to court for a review of his sack as Intercontinental Bank MD.

Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Abdullahi Mustapha, on Tuesday directed that the processes be serve on the respondents by substituted means, through advertisement in six national newspapers.

Akingbola wants the court, among others, to declare that his sack is in bad faith, contrary to due process, contrary to the process of law, discriminatory, ultra-vires, illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.

He requested N50 billion in damages.

To restore confidence in the five banks - Oceanic, Union, Afribank, Intercontinental, and Finbank - the government on Tuesday directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) not to move out their accounts from the banks, whose shares have also been suspended on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

A Presidency source disclosed that the confidence building directive came via a circular dated August 17, signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Yayale Ahmed, who said: "In the interest of the financial system, all (MDAs) are urged to support government's efforts by ensuring that they continue to patronise all the affected banks."

Also on Tuesday, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) MD, Ganiyu Ogunleye disclosed that the health status of all banks will be known next month.

The NDIC plans to tighten the rules to prevent the erosion of bank's capital base.

Ogunleye spoke in Abuja after Minister of State for Finance, Remi Babalola, inaugurated the board of the NDIC, whose members include Hassan Adamu (Chairman); Ogunleye (MD); Peter Umoh and Umaru Ibrahim (Executive Directors); and Lexy Omoha Lexy.

Other members are Sam Oni; Bennedikter Molokwu; David Oghene; Abdulrahman Dikko, Oyebisi Ilaka, Lawan Gana; and Razaq Lawal.

@dis guy,Jarus can u see this giant step from EFCC just this morning.i think Nigerian should be re-orientated so that they can stop there uneccessary propaganda

why do you think its a propaganda, the funny thing is we the people-account holders, shareholders, bank workers ordinary businessmen- have always suspected the way banks conduct their business now someone is actually doing something about it albeit in the open and we are shouting propaganda here
are they guilty or not thats the question same thing happened with ribadu are those being chased around guilty

At Last, Otedola, Dangote Settle Differences

The swords have been sheathed in the long-drawn battle between two friends and business giants, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Mr. Femi Otedola, who had been at each other’s neck for nearly a year. In a truce brokered by the Editor-in-Chief and Chairman of THISDAY, Mr. Nduka Obaigbena, and other friends of the business moguls last Sunday, the two men decided to bury the hatchet and forge a new bond. They had been invited separately for breakfast at Roberts Café, Victoria Island, Lagos , completely unaware of what was in the offing until they “bumped” into each other at the café. Obaigbena had been speaking to the two men individually before their misunderstanding over the purchase of Texaco became a media war, but the mediation had only succeeded in curtailing the public nature of the fight. At the reconciliation meeting on Sunday, they finally saw eye-to-eye for the first time in months as they spoke to each other at length, shook hands, asked frank questions and gave what were considered to be honest answers as to the source of their differences. To the delight of their friends, they made a solemn pledge to let “bygone be bygone”. They vowed to restore their confidence as friends, as Otedola acknowledged Dangote as his “elder brother” and “mentor”, promising to give Dangote his “due respect”.

Dangote, on his part, pledged to look after his “younger brother” and “protégé”. When Obaigbena asked the two billionaires to apologise to each other, Otedola seized the initiative. He cut in and said that in Yoruba tradition, Dangote was his senior and it was therefore unnecessary for the Kano-born sugar and cement giant to apologise, as only the junior apologises to the senior. They both agreed to end the long-running media war and withdraw all court cases related to the disagreement. The meeting ended with the declaration of “no victor, no vanquished” by the two parties. After the meeting, which was witnessed by Mr. Nduka Irabor, for chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Communications, and Mr. Albert Okumagba, the CEO of BGL Ltd, among others, the two billionaires drove together to Dangote’s house. Otedola also invited Dangote over to his office this Friday.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=151958

Those that have eyes let them see the ELITE would always agree. If the masses could love each other how wonderful it would be we would have better Elite and accountable Elite.

A BAD LEADER WAS A BAD FOLLOWER

Nope. Just doing a right thing.