Odidison Omankhanlen, Gbola Subair and Lanre Oyetade - NIGERIAN TRIBUNE


THREATS by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to deal decisively with bank debtors have begun to yield dividends as some of the debtors are rushing to pay up.
This is just as some bank chiefs had anticipated the whirlwind blowing through the banking sector now and relocated their families abroad.
Some of the bank officials, who knew that the bubble would soon burst, started relocating their families to Canada since 2008, using the opportunity of the country’s federal skilled worker/business class programme which gave them the opportunity to secure Canada permanent residency.
Notable among them are two officers of Intercontinental Bank, whose families currently reside in Richmond Hill, one of the most expensive areas of Toronto, where the said officials recently bought houses worth $1,000,000 and luxury cars for their wives.
The wife of one of the bank officials, who hails from the Eastern part of Nigeria, is a very popular member of Christ Embassy Church in Toronto and drives around town in a brand new Toyota Sequia Jeep worth $100,000.
However, as the news of the sack of CEOs of five banks and imminent EFCC’s involvement in the matter became known, families of the bankers have withdrawn from all public activities in the North American country and resorted to spiritual help from some clergymen to protect their spouses who are officials of some of the affected banks.
Meanwhile, some Nigerians abroad who have money and investments in some of the affected banks have started to return home to recover their assets while urging the CBN to make good use of the EFCC to recover the bank’s bad debts. They commended the new CBN boss for taking prompt action to save the banking sector from collapse.
[size=14pt]In another development, Nigerian Tribune investigations in the affected banks revealed that, in spite of several denials and disputations, the debtors have begun to pay up with some others making frantic enquiries with the respective banks, with a view to paying back their owed debts.
Briefing newsmen in Lagos, on Thursday, the new acting Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Afribank, Mr. Nebolisa Arah, stated that a few hours after the CBN made the debtors’ list public, one of the debtors paid N1 billion, adding that two of the debtors had also promised to pay N2 billion and N100 million respectively before the close of the day’s work.[/size]
According to Arah, the debtors would have no hiding place, as all efforts would be made to recover debts owed the banks, adding that the banks, regulators and relevant security agencies had the mandate to recover the debts.
A source in Union Bank, who pleaded anonymity, told the Nigerian Tribune that many debtors also made enquires with a view to paying their debts, stressing, however, that none of the corporate debtors had come forward.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs. Farida Waziri, told newsmen, on Thursday, that the anti-graft agency decided to get tough with the debtors, because of the urgent need to salvage the financial sector from total collapse and restore discipline to it.
The EFCC boss said the opportunity of repayment of the loans within seven days was to enable the borrowers to either pay through bank drafts or cheques in the name of the Federal Government.
She warned that it was in the interest of the debtors to comply with the directive rather than wait for arrest and prosecution.
“I will advise the debtors whose names had already been published by the Central Bank of Nigeriia to take advantage of this ultimatum by issuing their cheques and drafts in the name of EFCC for proper and coordinated recovery after which we restitute by returning the funds to the appropriate banks,” Waziri said.
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.
But the CBN has said that it will soon come out with the list of chronic bank debtors.
The apex bank, in a press statement issued by its Corporate Affairs Unit, stated that Nigerians and the world at large should expect the release of more names of debtors.
According to the statement, the names of bank debtors/loan defaulters were being compiled and would be published on a regular basis.
On the furore generated by the release of the names of the first batch of debtors, the CBN told debtors/ loan defaulters disputing the quantum of debt listed against them to approach their respective banks to reconcile their books.
The CBN, which said the amounts listed against their names were as of 31 May, 2009, said if any of the defaulters/debtors had made any payment after this date, they should sort it out with the relevant banks.

It will be recalled that the apex bank, on Tuesday, released names of prominent Nigerians, which, it said, were indebted to five banks, to the tune of N747 billion.
On the list were firms in which billionaires, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola, were said to have substantial interests, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, whose chairman is the Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Professor Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, among many others, mentioned.
It also noted that there were some typographical errors regarding the titles of some government officials and some companies, commenting, For instance, that the title “Accountant General” under Intercontinental Bank Plc list, should have read “Accountant General of Zamfara State,” while the name “Delta State Government,” under the Oceanic Bank list, should read “Delta Steel Company.”
A statement signed by the CBN spokesman, Alhaji M. M. Abdullahi, and made available to the Nigerian Tribune added that the bank regretted any embarrassment caused as a result of the typos.
Meanwhile, Nigeria will ask local and foreign banks and investors to bid for the ownership of five banks whose chief executive officers were fired after a Central Bank audit found the institutions had been mismanaged, its governor said.
Once the bank has finished its audit of 21 of the banks, expected by mid-September, it will “invite expressions of interest” from private-sector operators “as quickly as possible,” Governor Lamido Sanusi said in an interview at the sidelines of a conference in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.
Sanusi fired the CEOs of Afribank Nigeria Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank International Plc, Union Bank Nigeria Plc and Finbank Plc last Friday after a Central Bank audit found the lenders were in a “grave situation” and their management had acted in a manner “detrimental to the interests.

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Soooo, they had the money to pay eh?, So they can actually come up with N1 billion/N2 Billion in a week eh?