Due Process Must Be Followed - Akeredolu

Oluwarotimi O. Akeredolu (SAN), president of Nigeria Bar Association has said that the recent sack of five top Bank Executives by the Central Bank of Nigeria has continued to generate comments in the country.  He expressed that while the NBA has commended the move by the governor of the apex bank to sanitise the banking system the body notes that not a few Nigerians have expressed their anxieties at the unfolding drama and the danger the whole episode poses for the health of the financial sector.
Akeredolu said the EFCC appears to have been excited and the operatives of the agency are busy arresting the bank executives suspected to have breached the law in their dealings. There is also a report that some of these people may be declared wanted in the days ahead for the perceived roles in the alleged fraud. Mrs. Farida  Waziri , EFCC boss,  has been quoted as giving the alleged debtors of the affected banks a week ultimatum to redeem their debts or face prosecution.   Further he said the CBN governor, in a moment of indiscretion, also expressed his predilection for the sale of the banks when none of them has been declared insolvent and incapable to meet its obligations to the depositors and shareholders. These statements have excited controversies and cast a heavy shade of suspicion on the seeming altruistic intention of the governor.
The NBA president says the body hastens to caution government functionaries, on whose shoulders rest the onerous responsibilities to sanitise the banking system to approach their duties with tact and in strict adherence to the extant Laws. The interest of depositors must be of paramount importance when adopting whatever measures deemed expedient to rein in the excesses of erring individuals with the ultimate aim of salvaging the entire system.
 “No arbitrariness must be contemplated in resolving these issues. Debtors are under obligation to pay their debts within agreed contractual and legal framework. Those who default should be made to face full sanction within the ambit of the law. We must allow the law to dictate the steps to be taken in dealing with those involved in sharp practices.
The NBA wishes to admonish the regulators of the system to follow due process in dealing with the latest development in our Banking Industry. It is our hope that the shareholders in particular, and the generality of the public, will be taken into confidence before any fundamental alteration of the character of the ownership structure of the affected companies is effected. Acting otherwise will further erode the already shattered trust between the investing public and the financial managers on one hand in addition to accentuating the doubts expressed by some in the sanitization crusade,” he said.