Soludo Company Owes Bank N32bn

In what has been described as the ‘Great Bank Robbery’, the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo has been fingered as the chairman of African Finance Corporation, which is owing Oceanic Bank N32 billion.

Emerging facts on the five troubled banks have revealed that Prof. Soludo was chairman of African Finance Corporation Board during his tenure as the boss of Nigerian’s apex bank, the CBN. And it was alleged he might have used his position to secure the N32 billion loan for the company.

Other companies and personalities mentioned in Oceanic Bank’s N278 billion non-performing loan include Notore Chemical Industries Limited, formerly National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria, NAFCON, whose chairman is Nigeria’s former military ruler, General Yakubu Gowon.

Also linked with the agro-allied company is the immediate past governor of Delta State, James Ibori whose proxy, Henry Imasekha, is a director of Notore. The company also owes Oceanic Bank N32 billion.

Another major debtor of Oceanic Bank is Rahamaniya Global Service owned by Abdulrahman Musa Bashir who is owing N28 billion. L V Development owned by Michael Onasanya owes N2.7billion while Dangote Industries owned by Alhaji Aliko Dangote owes N2.5 billion.

The new CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, on Friday sacked the Chief Executive Officers (CEO) and the management of five banks. They are Oceanic Bank, Intercontinental Bank, Afribank, FinBank and Union Bank. The sacked helmsmen and management of the five troubled banks have been replaced with new ones. The action, CBN said, was to save the troubled banks from imminent collapse.

Mallam Sanusi, who assumed office as the new CBN governor, not only enjoys the support of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, the Presidency announced total support for the action of the new CBN boss to sanitize the banking industry.

In different national dailies, the CBN yesterday published the names of companies and their owners with the amounts they are owing the five troubled banks. This has, however, generated a lot of controversy between the apex bank and the alleged debtors. While making face-saving statements, the CEOs of debtor companies have denied the billions of naira credited against their names.

However, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has issued a one-week ultimatum to the companies mentioned to pay up the non-performing loans or go to jail.

The chairman of the anti-graft agency, Mrs. Farida Waziri, who issued the deadline in Abuja has also ordered the companies’ executives to report at the commission’s office or they will be arrested.

Meanwhile, security agents across the country have been put on the alert to forestall the escape of any of the CEOs of the five troubled banks or owners of the debtor companies who may attempt to flee the country.

The security alert at the ports became imperative as security men foiled an attempt by the former CEO of Oceanic Bank, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru to fly out of the country in a private jet allegedly owned by Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim.

Apart from the debtor-companies announced, the new CBN boss said the list of more debtors will be made public soon, thus making it necessary for security operatives to keep their eyes on all suspected beneficiaries of non-performing loans before they escape from the country.
http://thepmnews.com/2009/08/20/the-, wes-bank-n32bn

…Akingbola Defies EFCC; How He Escaped To London
August 20, 2009

By Tokunbo Olajide

Erastus Akingbola, the sacked boss of Intercontinental Bank Plc, has defied the order of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to report to its office in Abuja.

Akingbola is one of the five managing directors of banks the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido sacked last week Friday over sharp practices in their banks that have resulted in unpaid debts running into hundreds of billions of naira.

Rather than honour EFCC’s invitation, Akingbola is said to have stayed back in London where he was believed to have sneaked to last Friday when he got wind of his impending sack,

A close aide of the top banker confided in P.M. News that Akingbola left the country for the United Kingdom in the evening of last Friday before the news of his sack could spread to the public domain.

He managed to escape being intercepted by security agents who apparently, at the time, were not unaware of his travails.

Since his sack last week, the embattled banker has not been seen at his residence in Lagos, fuelling speculations that he stayed back in London to avoid being arrested.

Before the banking shake-up last Friday, P.M.News gathered that Akingbola had planned to attend the wedding of his cousin in London. So, when the bubble burst, and he got wind of his sack, he decided to stay back in the UK.

There are indications that he may not return to Nigeria soon in view of the axe that is dangling over his head.

It was gathered that even if he decides to leave London, his next port of call may be Ghana where he owns a mansion and frequently visited while he called the shots at Intercontinental Bank.

The EFCC has already declared wanted Akingbola along with other sacked bank CEOs and directors yet to report to the anti-graft agency, but the erstwhile Intercontinental boss has gone to court to challenge his sack by the CBN.

Akingbola, who was very influential as a top banker, is the President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and a Vice President of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).


http://thepmnews.com

@poster,

So Soludo being the Chairman of African Finance Corporation is now the owner of the Corporation?

Crap.

Is that a crime to owe banks in the first place?
Why are Nigerians becoming so dumb to turn this as if it is one big crime,
I believe this banks have their procedures of giving out loans and i also believe that
this companies or individuals met up these procedures b4 these loans was granted to them
I think there other way to make this people payup their loans other than bringing the whole banking sector
into a nightmare
Even Countries still owe the world bank,IMF which i know Nigeria is not exempted
There hasnt been this much uproar, instead they map out proposals or procedures for them to clear out their debt
Nigerian things is always different.

essentialB:

@poster,

So Soludo being the Chairman of African Finance Corporation is now the owner of the Corporation?

Crap.

As the Gov of CBN, it is not ethical for him to be a chairman of a company at same time.
However, once done with office of the gov, he could assume his position as the chairman of the coy.
So all he could have done is give the chairmanship to someone while in office as the gov of the CBN.

Looks like we're in phase 1 of the Operation Discredit Soludo project (ODS).


Long live the nation.

@poster,have u heard,Roberts Zoellicks company "world bank" is owing the united states government 100billion dollars.Dont let me call you a fool.