Skye Bank Gave N1.8bn Loan To Purchase 47 Vehicles Seized From Perm Sec – EFCC

There are indications that over 40 vehicles allegedly recovered from Mr. Goodknows Igali, a former permanent secretary by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) may have acquired through a bank loan for use in the 2015 elections.

Investigations have revealed that the vehicles in question were purchased with a loan from Skye Bank, as part of the transportation plans for the Jonathan/Sambo campaign during the last general elections.

It was further  gathered that some of the vehicles that came into the campaign pool  as donations or purchased with party funds had already been distributed or returned to the owners while the vehicles  in question  were kept in Abuja in the custody of the former PS who facilitated the loan in readiness to be sold with a view to committing the proceeds to the repayment of the loan.

Contrary to claims that the vehicles were purchased with diverted public funds, it was reliably gathered that a loan of N1.8 billion was obtained on November 20, 2014 for the purchase of ‘luxury vehicles for VIP use’ with an extended repayment plan beginning from December 2016.

Further checks from documents cited at the headquarters of the  bank, in Lagos, revealed that Skye Bank released the loan in five tranches in line with the time invoices were produced by the suppliers.

A senior manager of Skye Bank who confirmed the loan stated that the bank had in statements made to EFCC September 2016, supplied all the evidences concerning the transactions to the anti-graft agency.

The official who pleaded anonymity because he was not officially permitted to speak emphasized that the loan processes followed all legitimate procedures, stressing that no default has been recorded yet, since the repayment was billed to start December 2016, “had EFCC not taken interest in the transactions.”

A high ranking member of the People’s Democratic party (PDP)  High chief Abel Odoko, wondered why EFCC would chose to opt for a “sensational media trial on a matter that was concluded many months ago.”

The chieftain who claimed to be very conversant with the case debunked the claim that” the sum of N1.5 billion with which the vehicles were acquired was allegedly sourced from the diverted N27 billion insurance premium of deceased workers of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).”

The PDP chieftain said “first it was that the former permanent secretary took 40 government  SUVs for himself. After 24 hours its 45 or 47 and he bought them for Jonathan/Sambo Campaign. First, vehicle were parked in his house, now they are parked in a yard. If investigators are credible, why so much “confidential sources ” leaking out so much? Why the sudden massive media hype if it’s not sponsored witch hunting? Why always drag in the name of GEJ into everything negative?”

He wondered why despite the disclosure by the bank, from which the loan was taken, the government was silent on the transactions.

“Why are government officials silent on the fact that a loan was obtained and rather quoting other sources? Is the intention to scandalise specific  people for whatever reasons and achieve cheap political objectives? Is it professional  practice in investigations of this type to be releasing findings in bits without conclusions? Why has the minister of information suddenly become spokesman for EFCC?” the PDP source said.

According to him, EFCC came into the matter only after it discovered that Baseworth Insurance Brokers, a company the anti-graft agency had been investigating had also contributed N300 Million to the said loan which was co-ordinated by Skye bank. “It was only then that the agency insisted on recovering the money by taking possession of the vehicles to which no one objected.”

He said this was the settlement reached with the anti-graft agency about four months ago, “only for contrived stories scandalizing our party and former President Goodluck Jonathan  and people close to him to resurface in the media days before the new year.”

He added that the claim of a pending trial of ex-perm sec Igali was borne out of mischief, adding that “it does not arise because it has been clearly established that the vehicles were purchased with a bank loan.

“If EFCC is investigating any other matter, our party is not  against  it as long as due process and fairness is followed. The PDP as a party is not against President Buhari’s fight against corruption war. The PDP government believes in curtailing the scourge of corruption in the country that is why the government established the ICPC and the EFCC. We are fully in support of the anti-corruption war but it must be done in line with the principle of equity and without victimisation”.

 

Source: Abusidiq

EFCC Detains Former Skye Bank Chairman Tunde Ayeni Over N1bn Bribe To Ex-FCT Minister

Agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested and detained Tunde Ayeni, a former chairman of Skye Bank, over allegations that he bribed a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Bala Mohammed, to acquire 54 plots of land in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

Two EFCC sources told SaharaReporters that Mr. Ayeni was arrested yesterday and has remained in detention because he was initially uncooperative.

One of our sources added that Mr. Ayeni is also being investigated for playing roles in several other deals involving former First Lady Patience Jonathan and a former head of state, Abubakar Abdulsalam, who co-owns a telecommunications company with the former banking executive.

Our sources disclosed that Mr. Ayeni was still undergoing interrogation and may remain in detention as investigators work hard to unearth his many deals.

Skye Bank Sacks 50 more Workers, 5 Months after Sacking 175

No fewer than 50 persons on the payroll of Skye Bank have been asked to leave the company, Tribune is reporting.

It was reported that the affected employees are in the outsourced and auxiliary functions of the financial institution, which according to a recent report by Bloomberg, was close to being insolvent.

Reports say the dismissed workers were showed the exit door based on performance, disciplinary issues as well as right-sizing.

However, the numbers of the affected non-core staff were not stated since they are not direct employees of the bank.

Most of the affected are Staff in Outsourced Functions (SOF) comprising Tellers, Drivers and Internal security guards.

The Management of Skye Bank, it was learnt, had also approved payment of generous entitlement and severance packages to those affected as contained in their engagement letter and as agreed with the workers union.

The bank thanked the affected staff and expressed its appreciation for their work while in the employment of the organisation.

It would be recalled that part of the mandate of Skye Bank’s re-constituted Board is to run a lean and efficient organisation, control cost, aggressively recover debts owed by debtors and grow deposit liabilities and shore the liquidity position of the Bank.

Skye Bank, designated by CBN as one of Nigeria’s eight Systemically Important Bank (SIB), is one of Nigeria’s leading retail and commercial banks with over 373 branches and cash centres across Nigeria offering premium financial services, with subsidiaries in the West Coast of Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Guinea.

Skye Bank Sacks 175 Workers

The recent trend of retrenchment of workers in the financial services sector on Monday extended to Skye Bank Plc, which sent 175 of its employees into the labour market.

The bank confirmed the development in a statement through which it explained that the affected workers failed the year 2015 appraisal exercise.

The statement explained that a combination of factors was taken into consideration in the annual exercise, which ranged from low productivity to disciplinary issues, adding that the affected employees were duly exited in line with the bank’s staff exit policy.

The statement read in part, “The staff disengagement exercise is coming a year after the bank’s successful integration with the erstwhile Mainstreet Bank, which it acquired in October 2014; the integration exercise described by analysts as a landmark in Nigeria’s banking industry has significantly improved Skye Bank’s ICT capacity and helped strengthen the bank’s service delivery.

“The bank extended its appreciation to the affected staff for serving the bank, describing them as members of the family who will always be accorded deserving respect in their future dealings with the bank.”

According to the statement, Skye Bank is adjudged by the Central Bank of Nigeria as one of the systemically important banks with over N1.3tn balance sheet, and has over 400 branches.

Diamond Bank Plc retrenched over 200 members of its workforce, while Ecobank Nigeria sacked over 1,040 of its employees, in response to the difficulties in the economy.

FBN Holdings, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, had recently said it would cut down the number of its employees by 1,000.

As a result of the development, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, on Friday directed the banks to stop the retrenchment exercise.

The minister further directed that all the retrenchments done in the past four months should be put on hold pending the outcome of a proposed stakeholders’ summit for employers and employees of the banking, insurance and financial institutions scheduled for the first week of July.

“Following the high spate of petitions and complaints from stakeholders in the banking, insurance and financial institutions, I hereby direct the suspension of the ongoing retrenchment in the sector pending the outcome of the conciliatory meetings in the industry,” Ngige had said.

Credit: Punch

Skye Bank Announces Key Executive Appointments

The Board of Directors of Skye Bank has announced the elevation and appointments of four new executive directors to the board.

Officials said this was part of efforts to uphold the high standards and tradition of professionalism which have become the Bank’s driving force for service excellence and leadership.

The new Executive Directors are Bayo Sanni (Executive Director, Lagos Commercial Banking), Idris Yakubu (Executive Director, Abuja and Northern Region), Markie Idowu (Executive Director, Technology and Service Delivery
Channels) and Abimbola Izu (Executive Director, Corporate Services).

Announcing the new board appointments, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Timothy Oguntayo, expressed confidence that the new directors would further strengthen and reposition the bank for improved performance.

He congratulated them on their appointments which he said would take effect in June and July 2015.

Credit: CAJ News