- AMCON and NDIC urged to go after them
By Abiola Olawale
The board of directors at Heritage Bank is under public scrutiny regarding the circumstances leading to the collapse of the financial institution.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Monday, June 3, 2024, announced its decision to revoke the banking licence of Heritage Bank Plc with immediate effect.
In a statement by the Ag. Director, Corporate Communications, Hakama Ali, on Monday, the apex bank said the action was taken under its mandate to promote a sound financial system in Nigeria, and in exercise of its powers under Section 12 of the Banks and Other Financial Act (BOFIA) 2020.
Since the development, stakeholders and customers of the bank have called on the CBN to investigate the management of the financial institution.
Checks by The New Diplomat revealed that the Chairman of Board of Directors of Heritage Bank is Jani Ibrahim; the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) is Akin George-Taylor; Director, Olayemisi Disu; Executive Director, Osepiribo Ben-Willie; Director, Adewunmi Ogunsanya; Executive Director, George Oko-Oboh.
Fielding questions from the press, many members of the minority shareholders community expressed the need for a thorough probe of the management and directors of the failed bank.
The National Coordinator of Progressive Shareholders Association (PSA), Boniface Okezie, noted the inadequacy of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s decision to revoke Heritage Bank’s banking license.
Okezie stressed the necessity for a thorough investigation into the management of the bank, to determine the root causes of its collapse.
According to him, probing the bank managers would boost confidence in the sector.
He said: “CBN is also part of the problem in the system if the bank had been insolvent over the years and they had been living under the mercy of CBN, which should have taken action.
“In all this, what is the role of AMCON? They should have taken over the bank; after all, the bank was also paying a levy to AMCON. Instead, CBN has directed NDIC to take over for liquidation. Is that the way to go?
“Someone has N20m in the bank and you pay them N5m until the assets of the bank have been assessed and liquidated. That is wrong. It is going to discourage people from using banks.
“Besides, is it only Heritage Bank that is insolvent? What is the fate of some other banks in the sector? Are they strong and viable? They should tell us.
“The management should be called for questioning. Those who ran the bank aground should be called for questioning. It is not enough that NDIC should liquidate.
“There must be a probe to recover people’s money. What assets does the bank have? CBN should probe the collapse of the bank so that others can learn. This is not good enough, something has to be done to arrest the situation.”
Also, the National Coordinator of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Moses Igbrude, argued: “They (CBN) must probe the management of the bank. They should not let it slide because it will happen again if people are let off the hook.
“Let them investigate exactly what happened, to learn lessons and ensure it does not happen again.”
