Governor Ajimobi accused of stealing N15 million from Access Bank


Governor Ajimobi of Oyo State

Governor Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State allegedly pocketed over N15 Million erroneously credited to his Access Bank account in 2007 and has refused to pay back after the bank has made repeated efforts to recover the money, sources told Pointblanknews.com

Instead, the newly elected Governor of Oyo State has been using the Police to harass and intimidate staffers of Access Bank in the matter that is currently before the Ibadan High Court over what the bank described as “fraudulent withdrawal of monies mistakenly deposited in his account.”

The staffers of the bank in a suit filed at state high court, with Suit No. M/60/10 in a matter of an application for an order for the reinforcement of the applicants fundamental rights in Motion on Notice, sought to enforce their fundamental rights, having been arrested and detained by the police on an allegation brought against them by the governor that they fraudulently deducted the sum of N15 million from his account in the bank.

The statement of fact relied upon by the applicant, it was gathered, revealed that sometimes in the year 2007, the first respondent (the governor) placed the sum of N15,432,860.01 in a fixed deposit in the bank for a period of one month with the instruction that the said amount be paid into his current account upon maturity.

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It was also gathered that the said investment matured on 20th February, 2007 and the governor’s account was credited with the sum of N15,432,860.01. The banking process of the governor, it was also learnt, was fully automated while postings of funds into his accounts were done by the computer. Unfortunately, the system at that time was experiencing a disruption in its operation and consequently, the system initially credited the governor’s current account on 20th February 2007 and it again credited the same account with exactly the same amount on 21st February, 2007 which was the next day. After the total sum of N30,865,720.02 was credited into the account of the governor instead of N15,432.860.01, the governor withdrew and utilised the additional sum of N15,432,860.01 even though he was aware it did not belong to him.

The bank was said not to have discovered the double credit until sometimes in October 2008, when the auditors came to audit the account of the bank. They swiftly wrote to the governor on October 7, 2008 notifying him of the duplication of credit liquidation into his account.

According to the letter, which was signed by the top management staff of the bank and handed to the governor, “We regret to inform you of an erroneous credit into your account domiciled with our bank on the 21st February 2007. On the said date, your matured investment in commercial paper in the sum of N15,432,860.01 was erroneously credited into your account for the second time apart from the same amount credited to the account the same day. In the light of the above, we humbly request that you provide us with a repayment plan of this fund which was recently discovered by bank examiners.”

It was gathered that rather than refund the N15 million in question, the governor, referred the bank to his lawyers, alleging that his account was being manipulated by the officers of the bank.

Worried that the bank could institute a legal suit against him, he was said to have written the bank on October 14, 2009 alleging fraudulent manipulation of his account with the bank.

According to the letter, “This is to confirm my meeting of Tuesday October 13, 2009 with your General Manager, South West. I am disturbed by the debit alert of 13-10-09 confirming that my account was debited with the sum of N15,432,860.01. On further enquiry, I was told that your bank mistakenly credited same amount twice in February, 2007. I have since concluded three subsequent investments totalling 65 million during the same period and operated the account till November 2008 with a credit balance of N237,548.15 and no mention of any duplicated credit, neither was it reflected in my account balance.

“Based on several visitations by your staff, the account was re-activated in October 2009 with a credit balance of N237,548.15 and a cheque of N2.5 million and a bank draft of N25 million. When I re-activated the account, there was no debit balance on the account. Surprisingly, my account was unilaterally debited with N15,432,860.01 after about 2 (sic) years of statement of account reflecting credit balances and no duplicated credit.”

The bank’s reply to the governor’s submission that his account was being manipulated by the bank and signed by top management staff and dated October 14, 2009 stated that “We refer to your letter dated 14, October, 2009 on the above subject matter and we are by this letter sir, reminding you of our two previous correspondences with respect to duplication of credit to you. Please, find attached the acknowledgement copies and the statement of account reflecting same. One of our officers from the head office also informed that he had a discussion with you on the issue during which you acknowledged receipt of the said letters and also informed that you have refered the case to your legal adviser.

“As already communicated in the two letters, the bank erroneously credited your account domiciled with our bank on 21 February, 2007 with the sum of N15,432,860.1 which had already been credited into the same account in the precious day.

“Sir, we humbly state that as an ethical organisation, we would not do anything unprofessional on our customers’ account. Our not passing the debt entry into your account was to guide against debit interest accruals which would have increased the outstanding balance greatly.”

The Governor through his counsel, wrote to the state police command asking that the case be investigated. Three bank officials were summoned by the legal department of State CID, where they made their statements on oath.

The statement by one of them read thus, “I received a mail from the Treasury Unit of my bank notifying me of a double credit into the account of a customer. We were reliably informed in the mail that the customer’s investment in the bank had matured on the 20th February, 2007, but the account of the customer had been credited twice, that was on 20th February, 2007 and again on the 21st February, 2007. I was instructed to write a formal letter to the customer notifying him of the error made by the bank and to ask him to inform us of how and when he would repay the money since he had withdrawn everything. The amount credited his account was N15,432,860.1 on the 20th February, 2007 and the same amount credited on the 21st February, 2007 next day.”

“I wrote a formal letter to the customer notifying him and attached his account statements showing these double credits and went to his house. When I got to his house, his personal assistant said he had gone out and asked me to call him. I called him on his mobile and informed him that I had a letter for him. He said I should leave the letter with his P.A. and that he would see it. I made the P.A. to sign an acknowledgement copy for the letter and account statement.”

He stated further that, “In December 2008, I was given a letter by my boss from the Treasury Unit of my bank to deliver to the customer. Again, he was not at home. His P.A. called him and he asked me on phone what I came to do. I told him I was given another letter to give to him. He then asked if my bank had not been contacted by his lawyer and I said I was not aware. He told me to drop the letter with his P.A. who also signed the acknowledgement letter.”



According to him, in October 2009, the customer gave a staff of the bank a cheque to pay into his account and on the 13th October, 2009, the account of the customer was debited with the sum of N15,432,860.1 by the Treasury Unit of his head office. The said money was paid in by his P.A. Corroborating the above statement, another bank staff, who was also arrested on the order of the governor, stated that, “I was in my office on February 1, 2010, when three police officers from the state headquarters and a lawyer to our customer, said I was under arrest on a case brought against me and two others by the customer. The case was on N15 million recovered from the account of our customer sometimes in October 2009, under the condition that the customer was owing the bank on a transaction that dates back to 2007 on which the customer had been informed repeatedly to refund the money which he refused. I heard he was erroneously credited, and had spent the money and was unable to refund it until the money was recouped in this account on the said date the money was erroneously credited to his account in 2007.”

Another staff also had this to say: “He had an investment of fixed deposit in the bank, and when the investment matured, the system mistakenly credited him twice. This error was noticed by the bank during audit period by the head office. This, I heard, was communicated to the customer both verbally and in writing. Later in 2009, I understand that he paid some money into the account and our Treasury Unit deducted the money due to the bank. A senior management team was dispatched from the head office to further explain the situation to him. We were informed by the executive management that he agreed that he owed the bank, but requested that he should be allowed to pay over a period of 18 months, a request which the bank declined.”

http://www.pointblanknews.com/News/os5134.html

So this man is just a pretender all this while.

Na wa for naija politicians o! Can't they just come clean?

Hehe. I'd be slow in returning the money too.

If a bank accidentally pays twice into your account, I think 99.9% of people would drag their feet a bit on resolving the issue 

I wonder how a bank could be bold enough to claim they 'mistakenly' paid money into an account, that is gross incompetence.
I pray they 'mistakenly' pay money into my account, after all they have 'mistakenly' robbed me from their ATM machine in the past.

abes:

I wonder how a bank could be bold enough to claim they 'mistakenly' paid money into an account, that is gross incompetence.
I pray they 'mistakenly' pay money into my account, after all they have 'mistakenly' robbed me from their ATM machine in the past.

It happens regularly in banks. I have witnessed a case where a bank teller mistakenly posted the account number of a customer into amount field and the balance reading on the customer account was in billions but it was quickly reversed but some still go through without being detected for a long time.

And another case where 3000 was deposited in a branch and the customer went into another branch to check his balance and was told he just had a deposit of 300k, he quickly wiped everything.

@ ekt_bear, abes and denzel2009:

I can't believe that you guys; ekt_bear in particular, would also do the same. People make mistakes but it is not our place to justify an act of fraud simply because the party at the receiving end created room for it.

Secondly there are certain values that we expect from people who are aspiring to public offices. Imagine if it took all sorts of harassment and court cases to get Ajimobi to pay back N15m erroneously credited to him, what will happen when he's confronted with billions of Oyo State money??

I am just so disappointed!!!

wild wild wests, once a yorubaman always a yorubaman, AC or PDP
anytn lyk integrity? Ask OBj,gbenga daniels,akala,tinubu,grange,bode george,iyabo obj,bankole,fayose,madam etteh et all
Always dubious at the expense of integrity, 'i dey kampe' people. Not being generalistic here,but its rare to find a decent yorubaman. Gani fawehmi, edo yoruba tho

denzel2009:

It happens regularly in banks. I have witnessed a case where a bank teller mistakenly posted the account number of a customer into amount field and the balance reading on the customer account was in billions but it was quickly reversed but some still go through without being detected for a long time.

And another case where 3000 was deposited in a branch and the customer went into another branch to check his balance and was told he just had a deposit of 300k, he quickly wiped everything.

You are right, it happens.  Afterall, the posting in the banks are done by human beings. However, the bank usually relies on the integrity (and cooperation) of the beneficiary of the mistake for the recovery.

What the bank did was wrong but Ajimobi's attitude was worse. Again, don't be so surprised about Ajimobi's attitude because that is the behaviour of the average bank customer in Nigeria after being credited wrongly.  They start to rigmarole and avoid the issues.  Even when they admit that the amount has been credited to them in error, some of them ask for time and dictate the terms of refund without showing any remorse or empathy.

It is only very few exceptional people who step forward and report that their accounts have been credited in error.  Indeed, men of solid integrity and strong character are hard to come by and Ajimobi has proved that he is not one of them.  The reason this is saddening is because he occupies a key leadership position (albeit after the fact) and should be a role model for others.

marocguy:

wild wild wests, once a yorubaman always a yorubaman, AC or PDP
anytn lyk integrity? Ask OBj,gbenga daniels,akala,tinubu,grange,bode george,iyabo obj,bankole,fayose,madam etteh et all
Always dubious at the expense of integrity, 'i dey kampe' people. Not being generalistic here,but its rare to find a decent yorubaman. Gani fawehmi, edo yoruba tho

What do you think is the reason for the view expressed here? What is your view about the other tribes in Nigeria? Kindly share the outcome of your research. Thanks.

X-factoria: Where did I say I'd do the same. I just gave instances where banks made mistakes.

Pukkah: I'm sure Ajimobi would have settled if he knew that singular act was going to bite him in the asss now.

X-factoria:

@ ekt_bear, abes and denzel2009:

I can't believe that you guys; ekt_bear in particular, would also do the same. People make mistakes but it is not our place to justify an act of fraud simply because the party at the receiving end created room for it.

Secondly there are certain values that we expect from people who are aspiring to public offices. Imagine if it took all sorts of harassment and court cases to get Ajimobi to pay back N15m erroneously credited to him, what will happen when he's confronted with billions of Oyo State money??

I am just so disappointed!!!

I understand your point. I'm not trying to say that he is in the right, or justify what he did. Probably if he were a 100% perfect man, he'd have reported the additional deposit the day it happened, rather than keeping silent about it. Or if he genuinely did not notice, should have promptly refunded it when it was brought to his attention.

But let's be real here. . . how many of us would report it promptly? How many of us would not drag our feet?

Regarding your latter point, is there not a distinction between:

(A) actively stealing public funds and
(B) being slow about fixing someone else's error in your favor?

I don't think being guilty of (B) means you'd also do (A), does it? To me they seem different. If I'm in the woods somewhere and find a $100 bill somewhere, am I obliged to track down the owner?

If I'm shopping somewhere and the store clerk accidentally undercharges me for the item, am I obliged to fix his mistake? Is this just as bad morally as stealing the item from the store outright?

Hrm, maybe my sense of morality is messed up. . . I've never claimed to be perfect or all-knowing. If someone can make a good argument for how this just as bad as stealing from an ethical perspective, please do so and I'll change my opinion on the matter.

denzel2009:

X-factoria: Where did I say I'd do the same. I just gave instances where banks made mistakes.

Pukkah: I'm sure Ajimobi would have settled if he knew that singular act was going to bite him in the asss now.

I also think he would have settled if he knew the thing would come back to haunt him.  This is the more reason I believe that, even though I had a soft spot for the ACN as an alternative to PDP, he did not do well. Let's be frank.

Integrity is doing the right things even when nobody is watching and it takes solid character and rare restraint to do that.  Sadly, it looks like Ajimobi does not have such qualities. We are watching him and time will tell if he's the right material to lead Oyo state.  The people will not hesitate to sweep him aside if he fails to deliver.  

This is the more reason why he needs to double his efforts to erase the negative impression which some of his actions are creating in the minds of the people who reposed so much confidence in him.

This reminds me of the HND Student who went to return N20,000.00 he collected to the bank after discovering N3.9bn balance in his account.

I remember how some NLanders pilloried him for his integrity.

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'Who lodged N9.3bn into my bank account?'
Written by Taiwo Olanrewaju
Sunday, September 5, 2010

WHAT has remained a puzzle to Ade-yemi Durojaye, a Higher National Diploma (HND) 1 Student of The Polytechnic, Ibadan, is the identity of the person who lodged N9,309,019,869.91k  into his savings account.

More puzzling, however, is the swift manner with which the money disappeared from his account without any trace of it in his statement of account.

According to the civil engineering student, he had a little over N3,000  in his account and was going home for the weekend on Friday, 13th August, 2010.

So, Durojaye went to the First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Ibadan Poly 4 branch, with the intention of cashing N2,000.

It was about 6.57 p.m., so, he had to use his Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card.

"I was perlexed when I printed out my receipt and saw the balance in my account. I became weak and tired. Nine billion, three hundred and nine million, nineteen thousand, eight hundred and sixty nine naira, ninety one kobo. How did this amount get into my account?" I wondered.

To authenticate the ATM's claim, he withdrew N20,000 from the amount. But on Saturday when he went to check his account again, the money had disappeared from his account.

He, however, went to report the incident to the manager of the bank, a woman, on Monday morning.

He declared his intention to return the N20,000 he withdrew from the amount. The bank manager gave her approval but collected the triplicate copy of the teller which Durojaye used to lodge the money into  his account.

Durojaye later collected his statement of account, which had no record of the over N9 billion in it.

Although it has the record of the N20,000 which he refunded, that had also disappeared from his account, leaving a balance of a little over N1,000.

When the Nigerian Tribune  visited the branch on Wednesday, the manager was said to be on leave while the Branch Operation Manager,  claimed ignorance of the incident and referred the Nigerian Tribune to the bank's head office in Lagos.

http://odili.net/news/source/2010/sep/5/624.html






https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-509971.0.html

Pukkah, if you go to the store to buy fish and the clerk accidentally undercharges you by a lot, and you only find this out when you get home, what do you do in that situation?

Does one lack integrity if you don't immediately drive back to the store and let them know they screwed up?

ekt_bear:

Pukkah, if you go to the store to buy fish and the clerk accidentally undercharges you by a lot, and you only find this out when you get home, what do you do in that situation?

Does one lack integrity if you don't immediately drive back to the store and let them know they screwed up?

Yes, that person lacks integrity if he/she does not go back to alert them of the error.

ekt_bear:

I understand your point. I'm not trying to say that he is in the right, or justify what he did. Probably if he were a 100% perfect man, he'd have reported the additional deposit the day it happened, rather than keeping silent about it. Or if he genuinely did not notice, should have promptly refunded it when it was brought to his attention.

But let's be real here. . . how many of us would report it promptly? How many of us would not drag our feet?

Regarding your latter point, is there not a distinction between:

(A) actively stealing public funds and
(B) being slow about fixing someone else's error in your favor?

I don't think being guilty of (B) means you'd also do (A), does it? To me they seem different. If I'm in the woods somewhere and find a $100 bill somewhere, am I obliged to track down the owner?

If I'm shopping somewhere and the store clerk accidentally undercharges me for the item, am I obliged to fix his mistake? Is this just as bad morally as stealing the item from the store outright?

Hrm, maybe my sense of morality is messed up. . . I've never claimed to be perfect or all-knowing. If someone can make a good argument for how this just as bad as stealing from an ethical perspective, please do so and I'll change my opinion on the matter.

No human being is perfect but stealing is stealing whether it is passive or active.  In as much as you are aware that something which does not belong to you has come into your possession, the right thing to do is to report/return it.  I have done this before and I have seen a number of people/bank customers that have done it.  It is when people lack the will to report/return it that they seek for justification that would eliminate the guilt of retaining it.

The speed of fixing someone else's mistake that is your favour should not be the focus here but your willingness to correct the mistake made in your favour by a known person.

ekt_bear:

Pukkah, if you go to the store to buy fish and the clerk accidentally undercharges you by a lot, and you only find this out when you get home, what do you do in that situation?

Does one lack integrity if you don't immediately drive back to the store and let them know they screwed up?

I don't have to go back[b] immediately[/b] because I also need to consider the cost of doing so to me. The ultimate thing is that I return what is not mine. However, if I cannot return it immediately I have the option of putting a call through to them. I know some overpaid bank customers who called that they were overpaid and said they would return the cash the next day/time or that the erring cashier should come over to collect it.

Hrm. You learn something new every day, I guess.

I've always been of the opinion that actively stealing != profiting from a mistake that someone else made.

I see your points. . . but it will take me some time to internalize it.

Fortunately this type of thing rarely happens in my life.

@ Poster, thank you for the shots but I aver that while it could be true that such transactions took place on Ajimobi's account, why did it take the bank so long to detect such and how on earth were they able to close their books for that particular day?. It is trite in accounting that for every debit posting, there must be a corresponding credit posting, so what went amiss. You'll agree with me that even bankers have a way with sharp practices and for such to have taken place, they ought to have been drilled.

For the dear governor, I suppose he has just been holding on to a string all the while. He should swallow pride and do the appropriate thing  by returning the money to the bank, simple!!!!!

Badesh:

@ Poster, thank you for the shots but I aver that while it could be true that such transactions took place on Ajimobi's account, why did it take the bank so long to detect such and how on earth were they able to close their books for that particular day?. It is trite in accounting that for every debit posting, there must be a corresponding credit posting, so what went amiss. You'll agree with me that even bankers have a way with sharp practices and for such to have taken place, they ought to have been drilled.

For the dear governor, I suppose he has just been holding on to a string all the while. He should swallow pride and do the appropriate thing  by returning the money to the bank, simple!!!!!

There are some transactions that don't go through normal self balancing ledgers. Sometimes you debit an intercompany(which doesnt get reconciled very often) account and credit a customer account. It could take months or years even for some to be discovered depending on the volume of banking transactions.

Badesh:

@ Poster, thank you for the shots but I aver that while it could be true that such transactions took place on Ajimobi's account, why did it take the bank so long to detect such and how on earth were they able to close their books for that particular day?. It is trite in accounting that for every debit posting, there must be a corresponding credit posting, so what went amiss. You'll agree with me that even bankers have a way with sharp practices and for such to have taken place, they ought to have been drilled.

For the dear governor, I suppose he has just been holding on to a string all the while. He should swallow pride and do the appropriate thing  by returning the money to the bank, simple!!!!!

Indeed, there are so many accounting errors that even a balanced Trial Balance does not reveal which in real life can take a long time to discover. So there may be 'posting' problems which are not revealed at the close of business even after 'balancing' the books. Some are never even discovered for so many reasons.

It is true that there are bad eggs in the banking industry but I guess the guys who made that mistake in Access Bank would have been dealt with. They have cost the bank some money (Ajimobi is not likely to pay back with interest) and reputation.

Hahaha I dey laff oo. Look at sentiment! People are being sluggish to actually castigate this guy for just doing the wrong thing.

Now lets assume one thing. Imagine if this news was about Akala!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(Akawhaaat) This thread would have been awashed with derogatory-tongue twisting vocabularies, castigating him to hell, 

Na only God sabi who be saint! no be so?

We need people with integrity! It is not your money so return it.

the man is a shameless big thief

He is governor on which platform again?
ACN?
And I thought those guys were progressive holier-than-thou posers.
Abeg make the man return the money sharp, sharp.
Oyo State resident and taxpayers had better be on their guard against this man whose integrity threshold is too low for zero to be in public office.
I remember something about Obama paying off his old parking fines while a student in Harvard BEFORE running for presidency.
I also remeber reading that Prof. Olikoye Kuti stopped smoking when he was appointed Health Minister.- so no be only for America, public officers are expected to have and display integrity at all times and in all their transactions.

this case is a yrs old bad press


[size=13pt]S/West gov’s fixed deposit case already withdrawn from court

| Print | E-mail
Friday, 24 June 2011
FRESH facts have emerged that suit number M/60/2010, which referred to a South West governor (name withheld) being involved in fixed deposit mess and published in the Sunday Tribune of June 19, 2011 has since been struck out by the court.
[/size]
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the case was struck out on March 23, 2010.

[size=15pt]Further information made available to the Nigerian Tribune indicated that the case was actually withdrawn by the bank (name withheld) and the governor’s representative did not oppose it.
[/size]
It was also gathered that prior to the withdrawal of the suit in court, the bank had reversed the wrongful debit it carried out on the governor’s account and recredited his account with full sum that was debited.

The error that the case was still pending in court is regretted.

the same pdp ran tribune started this nasty press battle against ajimobi now they are retracting n back peddling -

NO SHAME AT ALL.

they are all the same

sbeezy8:

this case is a yrs old bad press


[size=13pt]S/West gov’s fixed deposit case already withdrawn from court

| Print | E-mail
Friday, 24 June 2011
FRESH facts have emerged that suit number M/60/2010, which referred to a South West governor (name withheld) being involved in fixed deposit mess and published in the Sunday Tribune of June 19, 2011 has since been struck out by the court.
[/size]
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the case was struck out on March 23, 2010.

[size=15pt]Further information made available to the Nigerian Tribune indicated that the case was actually withdrawn by the bank (name withheld) and the governor’s representative did not oppose it.
[/size]
It was also gathered that prior to the withdrawal of the suit in court, the bank had reversed the wrongful debit it carried out on the governor’s account and recredited his account with full sum that was debited.

The error that the case was still pending in court is regretted.

Something is wrong with the Tribune, I see a further plunge in their patronage.

Tribune fo Shizzy!!!

Tribune is a disgrace

Insipid banking by Access Bank. What a useless entity!