Odidison Omankhanlen and Friday Ekeoba, Lagos - 16.10.2009
Reactions have continued to trail the list of debtors of the five troubled banks, which led to the exit of the chief executives sacked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently. The banks include: BankPHB Plc, Equitorial Trust Bank, Spring Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc and Unity Bank Plc.
While some of the debtors had come out strongly to debunk the CBN’s claims, others opined that it was quite wrong to criminalise the whole issue with its attendant effects on the economy.
In a statement made available to the Nigerian Tribune by Future View Securities Limited, a firm owned by Mrs Elizabeth Ebi, which was said to owe Bank PHB, the company said it did not even operate an account with the said bank, stating that the issue of owing the bank did not arise.
It urged the CBN to ensure it cross-checked its facts before rushing to the press, stressing that the company did not have any record of owing any bank.
The Head, Corporate Affairs, Dangote Group, Mr. Joseph Okonmah when contacted, refused to make any comment, noting that the company would react at the appropriate time.
According to a financial analyst and former bank chief executive, Mr. Okechukwu Unegbu, it was wrong for the apex bank to publish names of debtors as the action would only send wrong signals about the economy.
Unegbu bemoaned the idea of criminalising borrowing from banks as other options were open to the banks to recover their debts in their books, appealing to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to stop hounding the troubled banks’ debtors.
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