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CBN sacks mgt. of Union Bank, Titan Trust, two other banks

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President Bola Tinubu has started the implementation of the report of the Special Investigator on Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and related entities, Jim Obazee with the dissolution of the board and management of Titan Trust Bank and three others.

The others are Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Polaris Bank, and Keystone Bank.

A report by Insidebusiness online disclosed that the decision to dissolve the boards was taken after a meeting between Yemi Cardoso, Obazee, and the board and management of the four banks.

Recall that the investors in Titan Trust Bank refused to honour the invitation to a meeting with the Special Investigator.

Obazee, a special investigator, says his team has uncovered how Godwin Emefiele, the former CBN governor, set up Titan Trust Bank (TTB) to acquire Union Bank of Nigeria.

Obazee, the head of the special investigation panel on the CBN and related entities, revealed that Emefiele used two Dubai-based companies — Luxis International DMCC (Luxis) and Magna International DMCC (MAGNA) — owned by Vink Corporation Middle East FZC, to set up Titan Trust Bank as proxies.

With the help of the Nigerian embassy in UAE, the panel report said the two companies do not have a physical presence in Dubai as claimed in their acquisition documents.

The panel also said such discovery contravenes section 3 subsection 5 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020, adding that Luxis and Magna are not “supposed to be allowed to operate or acquire a bank in Nigeria”.

During the investigation, according to the panel, it was discovered that there is a mysterious shareholder who has issued interest-free, long-term loans to TTB with no fixed repayment plan.

The report said the mysterious shareholder was traced to be Emefiele.

From one financial scandal to another, Emefiele has been languishing in prison and facing a plethora of court charges concerning corruption since the beginning of Tinubu’s administration.

The former CBN governor was locked in the Kuje correctional facility after he was arraigned on a six-count charge bordering on procurement fraud valued at N1.2 billion from November 22 to December 12 because he failed to meet the N300 million bail granted him by a high court.

The Obazee-led panel said TTB had in a letter of October 25, 2021, sought CBN’s no-objection to its proposed consolidation with Union Bank excluding its UK operations.

This, the letter noted, should be in four phases: the acquisition of 91.5 percent of the issued shares of the UBN; mandatory tender offer (MTO) for the remaining shares of the UBN; buyout of any share not voluntarily sold to TTB on the MTO; and merger of TTB and UBN with UBN as the surviving entity.

According to the panel, the letter also stated that the consolidation was to be funded via a combination of debt and equity, and CBN via letters dated March 3 and 9, 2022, which granted no objections to TTB’s request to obtain a $300,000,000 facility from Afrexim Bank, as well as capital injection of $175,000,000 from two existing shareholders of TTB: Luxis and Magna.

The TTB, via a letter dated June 3, 2022, informed the CBN that it had made the payment of the purchase consideration to the selling shareholders on June 1, 2022, and had, thus, completed the acquisition of 93.4 percent of the issued shares of the Union Bank.

The report said the “ultimate goal of acquiring UBN hinged on the ongoing court-ordered scheme of arrangement between the TTB and the holders of the balance of 5.95%”

Obazee has asked the federal government to take over the Titan Trust and Union banks by strengthening it for a lucrative future sellout.

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Mauritania’s Tah succeeds Adesina as 9th AfDB President

Tah was elected to succeed Adesina after rounds of voting conducted by the AfDB Board of Governors during the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

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Mauritania’s Sidi Ould Tah has been elected as the ninth president of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) as Nigeria’s Akinwumi Adesina prepares to bow out.

The Bank announced his election on its website on Thursday.

Adesina’s 10-year tenure will end this year and Tah is expected to assume office on September 1, 2025.

Tah was elected to succeed Adesina after rounds of voting conducted by the AfDB Board of Governors during the Bank’s Annual Meetings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

The Board comprises finance ministers and central bank governors from the Bank’s 81 member countries.

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JUST IN: Appeal Court Affirms Okphebholo as Edo Governor

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‎‎The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed Monday Okphebholo as duly elected in the September 21, 2024 Edo Governorship polls, as it affirms the decision of the Tribunal which on April 2 dismissed the petition of Asue Ighodalo of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for lacking merit. ‎‎

A three-man panel of the Appeal court, presided over by Justice Mohamed Danjuma, restated the position of the Tribunal which held that the PDP failed to provide sufficient and credible evidence to substantiate their claims of electoral malpractice, irregularities, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.‎‎

The panel held that the PDP failed to provide sufficient and credible evidence to substantiate their claims of electoral malpractice, irregularities, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act. ‎‎

The Appellate Court agrees with the Tribunal that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) Machines which the appellants tendered were merely ‘dumped’ as they weren’t demonstrated to prove overvoting.

‎‎This the Court held after it earlier expunged the 133 BVAS machines admitted in evidence at the Tribunal stage of the Governorship tussle. ‎‎

Ighodalo and the PDP were further faulted by the Appellate Court for failing to tender the voter register to prove overvoting.

The Court further adds that BVAS extract doesn’t constitute items with which to prove overvoting. ‎‎It says the documents tendered by the PDP at the Tribunal did not, on their own, prove overvoting, non-holding or cancellation of elections at the polling units.

‎‎To further puncture the case of the PDP, the panel says the 19 witnesses called by the appellants during the Tribunal hearing didn’t help their case.

It says the majority of them did not witness what they spoke about. Moreso, it adds they were insufficient to prove irregularities in polling stations at over 4,000 locations.

‎‎Nigeria’s electoral body, INEC, had declared Okpebholo the winner with 291,667 votes, against Asue Ighodalo of the PDP who garnered 247,274 votes.

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Betta Edu Congratulates President Tinubu On His Two Years In Office

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The former Honorable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. former, Dr Betta Edu, has congratulated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his Two Years in Office.

Edu, who joined millions of Nigerians and members of the All Progressives Congress, APC to heartily congratulate the president on his second year in office as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria said the president has been a true father to all.

Her statement reads: Mr. President, Father of the nation.

I join millions of Nigerians and members of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, APC to heartily congratulate you on your second year in office as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Despite the obvious challenges, your dedication to transforming Nigeria and changing the economic landscape by improving the lives of the citizens in the long run is visible, even to the greatest critics.

It’s has not been an easy ride navigating terrains that even lions won’t dare! Your commitment to hard work and a result oriented leadership is unprecedented.

The focus of your administration on economic rejuvenation is evidently changing the narrative and Nigerians are witnessing the positive impacts, including infrastructural development, education for all, affordable housing, huge improvement in the security situation among others, in just two years.

These positive developments underscore the renewed hope agenda of your administration.

Your Excellency, this was the toughest two years of your four + four years journey leading our nation.

The right foundation has been laid; it’s time for the fruits to blossom.

Forward forever, Nigeria will experience a rebirth, under your dynamic and visionary leader, A Lion is never distracted by the bleats of goats.

Mr. President keeps raising the bar….her statement reads.

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