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Emeka Offor, Mutallab, Other Billionaires Owe Banks 144Bn

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Nigerian Deposit Money Banks on Monday continued with the policy of naming and shaming their delinquent debtors with further publication of the names of firms and their directors whose loans have become non-performing for more than one year, according to Punch Newspapers.

Also, the Nation Newspapers reported that fifteen billionaires are owing three banks N15.83 billion. The debts were the loans they took but refused to pay before they went toxic.

In the Punch report, while nine banks published the names of the loans defaulters on Monday, four banks released the lists of their chronic debtors, owing a total of N143.81bn, on Tuesday.

The four banks are First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Access Bank Plc, Diamond Bank Plc and Unity Bank Plc.

The banks, which had published the list of their delinquent debtors on Monday were Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Union Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc, Skye Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Heritage Bank Limited and Enterprise Bank Limited.

First Bank, which has its total amount of non-performing loans as N43.72bn, published 92 names of delinquent debtors.

The first five companies on the lender’s list owe a combined sum of N23bn. These are Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited, Starcomm Plc; BGL Securities Limited, where a former Minister of Finance and National Planning, Kalu Idika Kalu, is a director; Shield Petroleum Limited and Fargo Petroleum and Gas Limited.

Shield Petroleum, the number one on the list, owes N6.883bn; while Zurich International Service, the last on the list, owes N26.69m.

Unity Bank also released 260 names of delinquent debtors with a combined NPL figure of N45.52bn.

The list has the companies of some prominent Nigerians. These include Umar Mutallab’s DeanShanger Project Limited, N3.6bn; Senator Ayodele Arise and a former Minister of State for Works, Mr. Dayo Adeyeye’s International Payment Devices Limited, N81.9m; and Prince Adeyanju Olateru-Olagbegi’s Cupid Investment BDC, N90.1m.

Other prominent companies on the list are Ekiti Kete Mass Transit, which owes N991m; Fargo Petroleum and Gas Limited, N2.5bn; Ava Cement Limited, N.8bn; and Plywood Chemical and Accessories, N1.1bn.

Ava Cement topped Unity Bank’s debtors’ list with N9.8bn, while Malcolm Akpokodje owes the least with N20m.

Access Bank Plc published a list of 11 delinquent debtors, with a combined NPL figure of approximately N3.4bn.

Top on the list are Bioka Ventures Limited, which owes N1.15bn, while Derukas International Limited was last on the list with a debt of N56.3m.

Diamond Bank Plc has N47.17bn as its total NPLs, with companies belonging to prominent Nigerians owing sizeable amounts.

These include Sir Emeka Offor’s Global ScanSystem Limited, which the bank says owes N181m; a former Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on the Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa’s Thriller Eneavours, which owes N122m; and a former Delta State Commissioner for Sports Solomon Ogba’s Delta Mega Trend Limited, which owes N89m.

Aside the 13 banks which have published their debtor lists, other banks which will publish theirs this week are Ecobank Nigeria, First City Monument Bank Limited, Standard Chartered Bank, Keystone Bank Limited, United Bank for Africa Plc and Wema Bank Plc.

Investigations by Punch correspondents on Monday revealed that most of the banks had cut their list of delinquent debtors due to litigation with their customers over disputes arising from loan terms and last-minute renegotiations by some clients.

Meanwhile, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) will publish the list of its debtors early next week if they fail to regularise the terms of their loans with the agency.

Mr. Kayode Lambo, spokesperson for AMCON,  who confirmed this on Monday, said companies which failed to regularise the terms of their loans with the agency would have their names published.

“As many companies who have not been servicing their loans will have their names published,” he added.

Elsewhere, the Nation reported that 15 billionaires are owing three banks N15.83 billion.

Going by a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive on the non-performing loans, the companies and their billionaire directors’ risk being banned from accessing foreign exchange from the official window and trading in the Nigerian Government Securities Market.

The affected debtors are: Enikkom Investment Services Ltd, whose director, Edward Amene, owes Skye Bank Plc N1.86 billion for a term loan, approved in December 2010 and expired December 2013 and Prod Integrated Services Limited, whose directors – Sylvester Okonkwo and Bekele Tadesse – obtained a lease finance loan from Skye Bank Plc in September 2008.

The facility expired in February 2013 and currently has outstanding negative balance of N1.65 billion.

Tim Afrique Services, whose term loan was approved in January 2009 and expired December 2012 with outstanding balance of N998.65 million, has Captain Billy, Gula Timati and Capt Bob Timondi as its directors.

National Truck Manufacturers’ directors – Sunil Pathanani and Alhaji Ibrahim Bayero – obtained an overdraft which was approved in April 2008 and expired in June 2009. It has an outstanding balance of N728.23 million.

Appaye Engineering Company Ltd, whose only director is Chief Richard Asaje, got a term loan which was approved in January 2007 and expired in January 2009. The account has an outstanding balance of N524.3 million.

The big debtors with Enterprise Bank Limited are: Naturelle Extracts Ltd, whose directors – Dr. Patrick Acholonu, Steve Agbarakwe, Ebong Nte Basiekanem, Brenda Bassey and Andrew Ahunnaya – got a loan in April 2011 and expired in April 2016 with an outstanding balance of N1.89 billion.

The GIC Oil & Gas Services Limited, with Ebolowo Godwin, Mrs. Evbusogie Ebolo, Osarugue Ebolo and Olabisi Bamidele as directors, also got a term loan which was approved in October 2012 and expired April 2015. The account with Enterprise Bank Limited has an outstanding balance of N1.89 billion.

Nadebo Energy Limited, another Enterprise Bank Limited customer, has Senator Nuhu Aliyu, Chief David Ajobola Olorunleke and Ali Jeldi Abubakar-Peters as directors. It secured a term loan which got the lender’s approval in February 2008.  The debit balance stood at N1.55 billion by October 2013 when the repayment period expired.

On the Enterprise Bank’s list of billionaire debtors is Vester Services Limited and the directors are Sylvester Unokesan and Labord Unokesan.

The company requested and got approval for a term loan in November 2011 which expired in February 2013 but has an outstanding balance of N1.44 billion.

IS Oglass Industries Limited is also indebted to Enterprise Bank Limited. Its directors are: Chief Isaac Akinmokun, Muyiwa Akinmokun, Dr. Akin Akinmokun, Tokunbo Orimobi and Olubunmi Ajoje.

The company applied and secured a term loan in April 2011 which expired in April 2013 and now has an outstanding balance of N895.83 million.

Zenith Bank Plc. also has its own share of bad debtors. They include: Energy Company Nigeria Limited, whose directors are Abidoye Ayoola, Ojeifo Musa, Grant Gilbert Temisan, Oji Theophilus Ifeanyichukwu, Nom Yunana and Ayoola Oluwole.

The company applied for and secured a Bank of Industry (BoI) term loan which got the lender’s approval in January 2012. The facility has an outstanding of N743.49 million.

Olugbenga Onigbogu, who is also the sole director, got a share loan of N502.7 million which was approved by Zenith Bank in January 2008 and the facility expired since February 2009.

Prime Marketing Associates Limited, with Adeleke Sebiomo, Adesimbo Sebiomo and Serak Sebiomo as its directors, got a commercial paper loan from Zenith Bank. The facility was approved in October 2007 and expired October 2008. It has an outstanding debt of  N472.2 million outstanding.

Ekha Agro Processing, whose directors are Samuel Osazenaye, E. Osazenaye, Ede Osayende, James Osarenkhoe, obtained a BoI term loan from Zenith Bank Plc. The facility, which was approved in October 2010 and due to expire in October 2020, has an outstanding balance of N356.39 million.

Also on the Zenith Bank list is Southfield Petroleum Limited, whose directors are Brigidi David, Didi Ndioma and Patrick Ndioma.

The company got import finance facility from Plc and the facility which was approved in September 2007 has an outstanding balance of N323.99 million after it expired in October 2008.


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E-Financial

Lagos State Appoints MoneyMaster as Payment Partner for “Ounje Eko” Programme

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“Ounje Eko”, the food price discount initiative of the Lagos State Government, has appointed leading payment service bank, MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank Limited (MMPSB), as its collaborator in the bid to ensure ease of payments at the market.

MoneyMaster is one of the Central Bank of Nigeria-licensed Payment Service Banks (PSBs) to promote financial inclusion across Nigeria.

Under the partnership, MMPSB will apply its cutting-edge payment solution to engender easy payment and reconciliation in order to make   the experiences of Lagosians who will be getting their food supplies from the markets pleasurable. Its payment solution is also all-encompassing and ensures real time value to payment destinations.

The mobile bank was appointed as the collection and payment partner for “Ounje Eko” Food Markets programme which is a government initiative serving the five divisions of Lagos State. Consequent on this, MoneyMaster Payment Service Bank will collect payments in 57 LCDAs in the state.

The partnership gives credence to the quality of payment solutions that MoneyMaster is reputed for in its services to its growing business clientele in private and public sectors.

 


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CBN, EFCC Probe Banks, Firms over Alleged Forex Racketeering

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Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is investigating irregular foreign exchange transactions and forward contracts valued at approximately $2.4 billion.

CBN, EFCC Probe Banks, Firms over Alleged Forex Racketeering

The  inquiry follows an extensive audit by Deloitte, which scrutinized $7 billion in dollar debts accumulated under the bank’s previous leadership.

In the aftermath of the 294th Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Abuja, Yemi Cardoso, governor of CBN,  disclosed to journalists that the investigation, supported by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, among other security bodies, aims to clarify the legitimacy of these FX allocations identified as problematic by the audit.

“It was determined that a number of these transactions did not qualify…they were outright illegal. The law enforcement agencies are now looking into those transactions that as far as we are concerned, are not valid to be paid,” Cardoso detailed, emphasizing the unlawful nature of these forex deals.

The crux of the investigation lies in the audit findings that a significant portion of the scrutinized transactions lacked proper documentation and, in many instances, were deemed outright illegal.

However, the unfolding investigation has raised concerns within the organized private sector, with some entities contemplating legal action against commercial banks for unresolved forex bids.

Despite these tensions, Governor Cardoso reassures that the foreign exchange market remains open and transparent, inviting stakeholders to address their forex needs through the official channels.

Furthermore, Cardoso clarified the distribution of fertilizers to farmers as a one-off measure and not indicative of a shift back to direct interventions by the CBN, underscoring a commitment to strategic, regulatory governance rather than direct market involvement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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CBN Urges Banks to Expedite Action on Recapitalisation

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Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed deposit money banks in the country to expedite action to increase their capital base from the current ₦25bn.

CBN Urges Banks to Expedite Action on Recapitalisation

Olayemi Cardoso, governor of CBN

Olayemi Cardoso, governor of CBN, stated this during the apex bank’s 294th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Tuesday in Abuja, when the MPC hiked the interest rate by 22.75% to 24.75%.

The apex bank chief said the MPC examined developments in the banking sector and expressed satisfaction that the industry remained stable. The committee, however, said to guard against risk, commercial banks in the country should accelerate their recapitalisation efforts.

Cardoso said, “The MPC also reviewed developments in the banking system and noted that the industry remains safe, sound, and stable. The committee thus called on the bank to sustain its surveillance and ensure compliance of banks with existing regulatory and macro-potential guidelines.

“The MPC also enjoined the banks to expedite actions on the recapitalisation of banks to strengthen the system against potential risks in an increasingly globalised world.”

 

 

 

 


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