| Nigerian anti-graft agency EFCC said on Thursday it would soon question the top management of three troubled banks that were sacked last week for running their institutions into insolvency.
“Top executives of Bank PHB, Spring Bank and Equitorial Trust bank who were last week sacked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will soon appear before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to answer questions in regard of some of their activities,” the agency said in a statement. The EFCC said “nobody will be treated as a scared cow in the latest exercise, even as debtors of the three banks should be ready to interact with the EFCC as soon as the CBN makes their list available to the commission.” Last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria removed the three bank chiefs and appointed new management to run the banks after it completed an audit of the records of 14 banks. The CBN said that although a fourth bank, Wema Bank plc, was also in a “grave situation,” but it had given it a June 30, 2010 deadline to recapitalise. The CBN said the examination centred on the health of the banks, with particular focus on their liquidity and corporate governance. The CBN also announced a 200 billion naira (1.4 billion dollars, 937 million euros) bailout for the four banks in “grave situation”. It said nine of the 14 banks were found to have adequate capital and liquidity, while the tenth, although adjudged to have insufficient capital, was “not in grave situation because it has a healthy liquidity position.” After a previous similar examination of an initial 10 banks, the chiefs of five ailing ones among them were sacked last August 14. These directors are currently being prosecuted for mismanaging these banks by granting unsecured loans. |
Oct92009