5 Banks Fail New Cbn Audit - Sanusi, Aondoakaa Clash Over Impending Banks’ Mds’

MANAGEMENT teams of five banks out of the 14 audited by the Central Bank of Nigeria have been reportedly listed for sack. The leadership of the five banks (names withheld) was said to have been indicted for massive unethical banking practices in the final audit report.


The 14 banks involved in the latest audit are Skye Bank, Bank PHB, Ecobank, Zenith Bank, FCMB, Fidelity Bank, Spring Bank, Access Bank, Wema Bank, Unity Bank, ETB, Standard Chartered, Stanbic IBTC and Citibank.


The initial audit led to the governor of the apex bank, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, firing the management teams of five banks: Oceanic Bank Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Union Bank Plc, FinBank Plc and Afribank Plc.


Five others, FirstBank of Nigeria Plc, UBA Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc and Sterling Bank Plc had been cleared by the apex bank after audit.


A top source in government circles revealed that the final audit report was ready last week contrary to the earlier promise by Sanusi that it would be ready in October.


Sanusi had disclosed at a stakeholders’ forum, recently, that each bank was examined by 10 examiners drawn on equal basis from CBN and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).


Apart from recommending the management teams for sack, it was also learnt that they were listed for prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).


Fourteen bank chiefs earlier sacked by the apex bank are being prosecuted by the anti-graft commission. The details of the final audit report are reportedly known to the anti-corruption agency, with its eyes already said to be on those listed for trial.


The execution of the report, according to the Nigerian Tribune sources, might run into a hitch, with a legal opinion given on it by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, SAN, to President Umaru Yar’Adua.


The minister’s opinion, it was learnt, did not favour the sack of the indicted top bankers, and he was said to have argued that implementing the report could lead to instability in the country.


The minister was also said to have argued in the memo that since the first round of implementation had become a subject of litigation, the next was bound to end that way, creating a lot of legal bottlenecks for the economy.


Another issue said to have been raised in the minister’s memo was that another round of sack of top bankers would confirm the alleged Northern agenda to hijack the banking sector from southerners.


The president, it was learnt, was under tremendous pressure from both sides of those who wanted the report implemented and those against it, with the Nigerian Tribune sources disclosing that the Nigerian leader was still more disposed to having the report implemented.


The apex bank boss is also said to be waiting for the go-ahead signal from the president before wielding the big stick again. Meanwhile, the EFCC has revealed that total debt recovery as of September 25 was N108 billion. It recovered N35 billion for Intercontinental Bank, N30.3 billion for Oceanic Bank, N28.6 billion for Afribank, N7.8 billion for Union Bank and N6.8 billion for FinBank.


Meanwhile, the CBN governor, on Wednesday, presented the new polymer bank notes to President Umaru Yar’Adua at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Handing the currency notes to the president, Sanusi, however, said the existing denominations of N5, N10 and N50 would remain legal tenders and would circulate side by side with the new polymer notes for the next six months.


He added that the public could still exchange their genuine old currencies in all banks, across the country within the six months given. Yar’Adua, who received the new polymer bank notes shortly before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council, (FEC) meeting, urged Nigerians to embrace the new polymer bank notes of N5, N10 and N50 introduced by the CBN.


He also enjoined Nigerians to support the “Keep the Naira Clean” campaign of the CBN. The president further noted that the redesign of the lower naira denominations and coins, as well as the introduction of N2 coin in February 2007 represented a comprehensive reform strategy aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the currency structure.


He said: “I must express my pleasure at the outcome of the ongoing currency restructuring programme of the CBN, which gathered momentum 10 years ago with the introduction of higher bank note denominations of N100, N200, N500 and N1,000 between 1999 and 2005.


“I am informed that the reform process resulted in huge cost-savings arising from the reduction in the size of the notes and the streamlining of their security features.”


He observed that the printing of the N20 denomination on polymer substrate had not only been found to be strong and durable, but had been well received by Nigerians.


Yar’Adua said: “The demonstrated expediency of adopting the poly substrate in banknote printing informed my approval for the conversion of the other lower bank note denominations in October 2008 on the recommendation of the Board of the CBN,” he said.


The president assured that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting (NSPM) Plc, which was involved in the printing of the new polymer notes, would realise its optimal capacity in no distant future.


He said: “By the time the polymer substrate is produced in this country in the long run, there is no overstating the benefit to Nigeria, as self-sufficiency in currency production, which, indeed, is the ultimate objective of this administration, would have been fully actualised.”
 


 
   
 
 http://www.tribune.com.ng/01102009/news/news1.html 

the guy is getting seriously confused