₦airaland Forum

Today’s sacking of the powerful chief executives of five of Nigeria’s top banks comes on the heels of revelations that the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Charles Soludo, provided huge soft loans to some of them. Under Soludo, the CBN gave Oceanic bank N80 billion; Intercontinental bank, N72 billion; Skye Bank, N60 billion; and FinBank, N40 billion.


The surprise sacking threw the Nigerian banking sector on its head by dismissing the heads of Intercontinental Bank, Union Bank, Afribank, Oceanic Bank and Fin Bank. The fired officials are: Erastus Akingbola (Intercontinental Bank); Okey Nwosu (Finbank); Sebastian Adigwe (Afribank); Mrs Cecelia Ibru (Oceanic Bank); and Bartholomew Ebong (Union Bank). Acting CEOs were immediately announced for those institutions.
Before losing his own job recently, Soludo had planned to extend the scam by buying back the loans as bad debts. The five banks fell under scrutiny during the first audit of 10 major banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Although the banks each presented strong and healthy financial statements, banking observers told Saharareporters that most of them generally cook their books in order to present fake records of performance and fool the public. They found support in Charles Soludo, whose personal interest in the banks and cosy relationship with bank CEOs interfered with the CBN's supervisory duties.

Most of the CEOs flaunted a lavish lifestyle of private jets and property-acquisition, remaining in positions through political patronage and support. The Nigerian public has recently been inundated with stories of a new passion for private jets by the top bank CEOs, despite the worldwide recession. Oceanic Bank was reported to own two HS 125-800 jets; UBA, a Cessena Citation; Zenith Bank, an HS 125-800 XP; and Guaranty Trust, a Challenger 306 jet. The jets are managed for the CEOs by various airlines, because the law prohibits an individual from directly owning one. Despite the fact that they cost over $20 million to buy or lease, with annual running costs of up to $8 million, the president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Nigeria, Mr. Erastus Akingbola, and the sacked CEO of InterContinental bank, explained in defence of the CEOs recently that the jets were not a luxury in the jobs of the CEOs, but a necessity.
While Mr. Soludo himself sat on the board of the Central Bank of Nigeria as its governor, he was no stranger to the lavish lifestyle, or to the misuse of power. Contrary to established regulations, he chaired a controversial continental superfund created by him, known as the African Finance Corporationon (AFC) owned huge mansions in Anambra, Abuja and London. On the board of AFC, he surrounded himself with most of the CEOs of the troubled banks, and a federal probe revealed a pattern of corrupt practices.

Privately, Soludo lived in style that was well beyond his means. He earned about N12 million per annum, but news reports said his wife and two children lived in a half a billion Naira home in a suburb of London. From that home, his children attended schools so expensive his salary could not possibly account for them. He dodges the press when asked to clarify those questions. 

Sources in the financial sector told Saharareporters that the many of the banks were exposed to bad loans as most bank loans were given out to politicians who provided little or no collateral security. The case of Oceanic bank, owned by the Ibru family stand out as the bank worst hit, with bad loans decisions, according to the ongoing banking audit ordered by the new CBN governor. While First, UBA, Diamond, GTB, Sterling, Finbank, Afribank, Oceanic, Intercontinental and Union Bank had their books checked by CBN auditors, the five banks whose CEOs were fired today appears to have the worst records. There are 14 banks waiting to be audited, including Zenith bank PLC.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria has announced the injection of N400 billion into the banking sector to restore investors confidence in the banking sector. The acting CEOS are: Lai Alabi (Intercontinental Bank), Funke Osibodu (Union bank), John Aboh (Oceanic bank), Nebolisa Arah (Afribank) and Susan Eroche (FinBank).
By today’s action, the new CBN governor, Lamido Sanusi, seems to cement his reputation as a controversial banker at the Central Bank. His supporters reject insinuations that he is doing the bidding of Northern interests to suppress the core south's hold on banks. "No, Mr. Sanusi is not at the CBN to protect any interest, he is a radically minded person, you might as well think of him as Yar'Adua's Nuhu Ribadu," suggested an Abuja-based supporter who did not want to be named.

http://www.saharareporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3463:why-and-how-the-five-qsuperq-nigerian-bank-ceos-fell&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18

The Central Bank of Nigeria has moved to inject N400 billion into five banks in the country following the decision to remove the CEOs and executive directors of the affected banks. The affected institutions are Intercontinental Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Oceanic International Bank Plc, Finbank Plc and Afribank Plc.

The CEOs that have been sacked by the CBN are Erastus Akingbola (Intercontinental Bank); Okey Nwosu (Finbank); Sebastian Adigwe (Afribank); Mrs Cecelia Ibru (Oceanic Bank); and Bartholomew Ebong (Union Bank).

But in a pre-emptive move, Erastus Akingbola, MD/CEO of Intercontinental Bank who got wind of his impending removal called his executive directors to inform them of their certain sack by the CBN.

Akingbola was said to have rushed to Ota yesterday to elicit the support of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to intervene on his behalf and call President Umaru Yar’Adua to stop the CBN from carrying out the sack.

However, the CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who made this decision known this morning at the Emergency Bankers’ Committee convened by the CBN in Lagos, explained exclusively to THISDAY that the decision was being taken to safeguard the financial sector from systemic collapse.

He said following the audit exercise conducted by CBN’s examiners it was discovered that five of the banks had accumulated margin loans of N500 billion, among other loans, that had gone bad and eroded their shareholders’ funds.

“Some of these banks are quite large institutions and they have been mismanaged, so we had to move in to send a strong signal that such recklessness on the part of bank executives will no longer be tolerated.”

He said the CBN had obtained the approval of the President to inject N400 billion into the affected banks to shore up their tier 2 capital to minimum acceptable levels.

Sanusi added that the funds being injected by the CBN was just temporary and does not translate to the government taking a stake in the five banks, as the interim management will be given a period to recapitalise the affected institutions, following which the N400 billion will be paid back to the CBN.

On how the CBN will prevent a run on the banks and create panic in the economy, Sanusi said the CBN intends to make it clear that the money being injected by the reserve bank as well as the decision to guarantee interbank placement should allay depositors’ concerns.

The CBN, he stated, stands ready to ensure that no bank collapses in the country, but will encourage them to seek for funds to raise fresh capital and merge with stronger banks.

He said an interim management and board for the affected banks will be put in place to run the institutions until they are taken over by new management teams and owners.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has been approached by the Nigerian government to own up to thousands of weapons belonging to the Nigerian Army which would be delivered secretly at night to an arms collection centre if we agree to the plan. This desperate measure which aims to give the amnesty program some semblance of progress has the input and connivance of the Amnesty Commitee, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Ministry of Defense as well as the Joint Task Force.



We know that some unscrupulous individuals will participate in this scam because of the money involved and as such we are using this opportunity to raise the alarm before Nigerians and the international community are hoodwinked.

For a government that has perfected the art of rigging elections, this latest fraudulent attempt does not come to us as a surprise.

MEND believes in a holistic process where the root issues that prompted the unrest are addressed and weapons are freely given up in exchange for justice.

We are happy to note that the military has vacated the Gbaramatu communities to allow the displaced people return home and hope that the government will go a step further by rebuilding the damaged homes or compensating those whose property were wantonly destroyed.

http://www.saharareporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3456:mend-issues-qamnesty-fraud-alertq&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18

Soludo tried well enough 4 the banking sector,but it looks like he lost something along the lines,now here comes someone that is looking serious.Let's see how far he can go,what good it will bring and for how long he can sustain it.(without the politicians interfering).

The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced the appointment of acting CEOs for the top five banks whose managements were earlier sacked by the apex bank today. The acting CEOS are: Lai Alabi (Intercontinental Bank), Funke Osibodu (Union bank), John Aboh (Oceanic bank),  Nebolisa Arah (Afribank) and Susan Eroche (FinBank).
The new CEOs are expected to take over immediately.

More to come,

Source
http://www.saharareporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3459:cbn-appoints-acting-ceos-for-five-nigerian-banks&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18

Fellow Nigerians pls don't be fooled all the copies in circulation now are all fake and should be rejected by all.
there is no seroius commitment on the part of the government to resolve this issue of the ND

my first was a samsung a4oo flip very cool phone

please someone should also tell Yar'adua that we Nigerians don't recognise him also.
the people in Kosovo do not need his consent on anything that concerns them.
we have our own problems here that he should recognise,
maybe he has forgotten them.
here's a list of just some of them
power,security of lives and properties,ND,political reforms,bad road transport system,corruption,falling education standard,general strikes,economy diversification,unemployment etc.
all this are enough to keep him busy not approving/disapproving of the actions of a sovereign country.

Yaradua is sick
he's slow
he's confused
he's a tribalist
he's too timid


please can we expect anything better from someone like this?
what is the objective of the new college in kaduna ?
what purpose will it serve?

when Yara-olodo proposed the new ND ministry we were cautioned now he is coming out of his hidden agenda gradually.
God pass them.

this are questions we need to ask ourselves there seems to be an ulterior motive for most decisions taken by Yara-nothing
but the good lord is our strong tower,he will surely look after the suffering masses.

This man can keep dreaming till thy kingdom comes but never again(by the grace of God )will he rule us again.
EBAMI KIGBE OLE,OLE,OLE,OLE,OLE,OLE

yes i will get married before the end of the magic year 2010

sorry to say but I think it's long past the tiome when we can even half heartedly say that the police is, friend.
the last 2-3 IG's have been in a race to surpass their predecessors loot in any way.
but to come to the issue of Okiro where was NDIC all this while
didn't they know about the debt?
why re they just crying now ,when the man is retired?
they themselves need to be sanction for negligence of duties.

lets jst wait and see wat d next IG will do after musliu,tafa,okiro nwho knows even the one's before them?

Doom for the North when Nigeria Disintegrates!

WRITTEN BY BY DR. HOWARD LAWSON JAJA
SUNDAY, 19 JULY 2009 19:17

A landlocked country is one that is entirely surrounded by other countries, a country without access to the sea. Landlocked status is critical for many nations because it prevents unfettered access to the open ocean which, in turn allows for trade with most of the countries in the world. Goods in a landlocked country, for example, must be transported through another country before they reach the ocean. What this means is that a landlocked country is a ‘beggar’ that is dependent on other countries! A close look at average GDP (gross domestic product) per capita: the weighted world average of GDP per capita is approximately $18,000. Of the world's landlocked countries, only two (Switzerland and Austria) have higher GDPs per capita than this average. The weighted average of all landlocked countries is under $4000! Of all the major industrialized nations in the world, none of them is landlocked. Furthermore, none of the emerging economies in the world is landlocked!
Northern Nigeria has been deceived by Britain since independence. They were a willing tool which the colonial masters found handy in perpetuating their neo-colonial agenda. The agenda of milking the mineral resources in the South dry. It might interest many Nigerians to know that the so called ‘Northern Agenda’ is in reality a ‘British Agenda’ aimed at controlling the South that is rich in mineral resources. The North/Arewa has no intelligent agenda and that is why Northern Nigeria is underdeveloped and unfocused to this day. The Northern people are very poor and worst of all uneducated. Britain politically and militarily equipped the North to ensure that the mineral rich South is browbeaten into submission in the name of ‘One Nigeria’ until the resources are exhausted.

The North was and is still being fed with cooked up intelligence reports by Britain in other that the resources of the South will be continually milked. This neo-colonialist agenda of Britain has found a willing tool in the name of ‘Northern Nigeria’.

If the intelligence agencies of Nigeria were really efficient, they would have deduced that Britain has a grand plan and that the North is just an expedient tool. Britain has always preferred an educationally backward North that could easily be manipulated. The recent call for military assistance from Britain is blunder.

The current Niger Delta crisis is one that will consume Nigeria if the right thing is not done fast. Britain will lose out in the power game and the North will plunge with it. The question is not a matter of ‘if’ but it is a matter of ‘when’. When Nigeria disintegrates the North will be a landlocked country with hostile Southern neighbors. Neighbors it has devastated and ruined for over 48 yrs. The North can only rely on other landlocked countries like Niger and Chad. Geographically, Cameroon will be an expensive neighbor to route needed goods while commerce will also be difficult because of the language barrier. The North has to understand their precarious situation and make peace with its Southern neighbors because a truly federal Nigeria will be of immense benefit to the North than a disintegrated Nigeria. The North will improve economically under a truly federal Nigerian than an Arewa Republic. No landlocked country will survive if it neighbors are hostile to it. Britain has and will never give the North any sound advice. The only advice Britain will ever give the North is that which will favor British economic interests. Africans need to rise up and ask Western Nations ‘why’ they want to help us! The North should realize that Britain is willing to ditch them if their services are no longer needed.

There is bitter animosity between the south and the North. The North can keep postponing the evil day which must surely come. They can make the intelligent and strategic move of convening a Sovereign National Conference now, or stupidly carryout the ‘British Agenda’ to their detriment. Contrary to the advice of the British, the North has everything to gain and nothing to lose in a confederate or truly federal Nigeria. It is the British who have everything to lose and the earlier the North realizes this fact the better for them.

I call on all Northerners who can truly reflect on the issues at stake to rise up and do the right thing before it is too late. I call on Northerners who are educated to look ahead and steer the North in the right direction before they are all consumed.


http://www.saharareporters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3251:doom-for-the-north-when

Yes a cease fire was reached but at what cost to the Niger Deltans and to Nigeria.
The truth still remains that the Nigerian government has not shown enough political will to tackle the issue of the Niger Delta.
What has happened to the much touted Niger delta master plan
is there any plan on ground to settle those that were affected during the recent military exercise in that region
how sincere is the government in to ensuring that oil companies perform their statutory social responsibilities etc
the issues here are enormous
MEND or other groups are not the problem but the lack of commitment on the part of the government to resolve issues timely or even address it beforehand.

This man is sick please someone should tell him that he's not healthy enough to carry the burdens of this country.
Though OBJ had many sins but one fact was that he made some of us proud that we were Nigerians.
For those advising Yaradua to re-contest they just don't care about him.
He should remember that if he drops dead they will sing the same tune to the then incumbent.

truly zizu's goal wasn't a solo effort but the timing,precision and deft turning made it to stand out

for me ZIZU's goal @ dat final is unforgettable soe champinos league commercials still show dat goal
it was unique

originality
Faze

welcome neighbour
this is one big,diverse happy family
u'll love it.
welcome again

welcome neighbour
sure u'll love this family
it's one big,diverse family
welcome sha

Yuguda has lost it all,indeed this is a clear case of grace to grass
He has lost popularity so much that I don't see him recovering from it
but then He seems to have forgetten that what goes around comes around
lets just be patient and pray for the people of Bauchi state and Nigeria as a whole.
E GO BETTER

For me I will choose Bob Marley anytime anyday
his songs had more appeal to me as an African
considering the times then and even now.
this not taking anything away frm MJ
he was the best in his genre

STYLEE- Jimmy Jatt, 2face , Elajoe and Mode 9
THE BOMB

R-Kelly
You Saved Me album

I can bet my ass that any Nairalander will not and and never beg him.
And for that man Ibrahim, I am not surprised by his utterances
the antecedents are there,it seems when you are made a minister in that ministry
you start using other parts of your body to think and no longer the brain.
Wada Nas proved this and mallam Ibrahim is continuing the trend.
Thank God he was posted to S/A and not a western country where the
issue of governance is taken seriously,
he would have made all Nigerians seem foolish.

Andy Uba again,it's either this man has a problem or maybe his lawyers are the
one's compounding his problems by not telling him the truth point blank.
But evwn then I beliebve that Andy Uba has proven to us
all that he's just a man desperate for the seat of the Governor.
Granted he can aspire within the ambients of the law but to me, I think
he knows he can never win an election in Anambra state again even if he can contest
(since his Godfather is now in Otta not Aso Rock) thats why he's in this legal race to win by all means
who knows maybe if the court fines him very well this time around he will think wisely b4 goin
ços I dont know how a lower court can reverse the dec ision of the supreme court.

Since u've asked for me I think it's the first Son because he makes them special with their hussy