The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

  • Recession: Coalition urges Soludo, Sanusi to support FG

    Recession: Coalition urges Soludo, Sanusi to support FG

    The President, Coalition of Civil Society Groups (COSG), Etuk Bassey has urged past Governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Charles Soludo and the Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi to shelve their blame games and support the Federal Government to managing the current economic recession in the country.

    Bassey said during a press conference, in Abuja that the apex bank at this critical time needed inputs from all financial institutions such as the Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment including the ex-CBN governors to develop innovative and workable plans to rescue the economy.

    He condemned the increasing inflation rates, unemployment and declining revenues of the federal government and its daunting effect on the public.

    According to him, the bailout funds, bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meetings, intervention funds in the agriculture, power and aviation sectors of the economy appeared less effective in the face of the recession.

    “It remains the duty of Nigeria’s economic managers to re-balance the economy and see us through these challenges so that we can emerge a better economy. Yet, it seems to us that those entrusted with the management of this economy are bereft of creative ideas on way forward or, worse still, do not understand the complexities of the current challenges.

    “However, it is important to note the unsavory and divisive comments by ex-Governors of the CBN, particularly Prof. Charles Soludo and HRH Sanusi Lamido, condemning some decisions and actions of the Bank. We are of the view that, save for mischief and cheap publicity, these individuals ought to approach their successor and share their views on an appropriate way forward for the benefit of the masses,” Bassey added.

    However, he advised the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to put on their thinking caps and design implementable fiscal policies, structural policies and industrial trade policies to complement the monetary policy of the apex bank.

    Speaking on the roles of state governments, the coalition advised individual states to look inward and develop business models that would boost state Internally Generated Revenues (IGRs), rather than continuous reliance on bail out funds and federal allocations.

    “We find it insulting that some of these state governors shamelessly blame other people for the dwindling performance of the economy,” he added.

  • CBN re-instates banks banned from foreign exchange market

    CBN re-instates banks banned from foreign exchange market

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has re-instated all the banks that were banned from the foreign exchange market, the Director, Banking Supervision, Mrs Tokunbo Martins, has said.

    She said this on Wednesday in Abuja at a media briefing, stating that the decision was reached after a series of meetings with the body of bank Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

    “Well, we have had engagements with the body of CEOs and they have been interacting amongst themselves and I am happy to tell you today that the banks that were hitherto banned have been released from the ban.

    “And the reason is because all of the banks after discussions and engagements under the auspices of the body of CEOs and the CIBN have all submitted credible repayment plans which we the CBN found acceptable.

    “So as a result of that, all those banks have been re-instated in the foreign exchange market.’’
    The CIBN President, Prof. Segun Ajibola, said that the institute was very much interested in what was happening among all the industry players.

    He added that under the aegis of the institute, the body of bank CEOs was now a formidable platform to look at issues that were pertinent to the industry and the economy, to ensure that stakeholders’ interest was protected.

    “We will protect the interests of all our stakeholders and especially the bigger picture, which is Nigeria and its economy as a whole.

    “So it is a happy development and I believe this will further help to strengthen our system and our economy.’’

    The Managing Director of Access Bank, Mr Herbert Wigwe, said that the body of bank CEOs under the under the auspices of the CIBN, aims to get banks to work together.

    He said that this would ensure that anytime there was a serious issue in the market, bank CEOs could meet to look for a way to resolve them.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that that the CBN had on Tuesday banned nine Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) from the nation’s foreign exchange market for failing to remit the sum of 2.3 billion dollars belonging to NNPC to the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

    The CBN then on Thursday re-admitted the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, saying it had remitted all outstanding NNPC/NLNG deposits in its possession to NNPC’s TSA at the CBN.

  • FG slashes CBN’s budget by 50%

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that 50% of its budget has been slashed by the federal government, lamenting that this cut in budget has seriously affected its capabilities to fund some financial system initiatives.

    This disclosure was made by the Director of the Financial System Stability (FSS 2020) of the CBN Mr Mohammed Suleiman when members of the FSS 2020 visited the the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) yesterday in Abuja.

    According to Mohammed Suleiman, “funding has been a major issue, the FSS 2020 programme since its inception has always been bankrolled single handedly by the CBN. The CBN is beginning to weary a little bit because the current budget this year was reduced by 50% and that is majorly affecting some of our capabilities to implement some of these strategic objectives.”

    Suleiman lamented that “50% of our budget cut is no small measure at all. We need to agree on the funding approach, we need to have a rethink and get the support of all implementing institutions. The FSS2020 is not a CBN project it is a financial system project, all financial system players have to take ownership of the project and be willing to support it.”

    During the exchange of views on the way to move the FS2020 project forward an official of the NDIC revealed that it costs around N198 billion to fund the FSS2020 project.

    The Director FSS2020 who is also a staff of the CBN noted that “we will structure the FSS2020 to include dedicated team for monitoring, tracking and reporting and ensure regular quarterly or biannual meeting of stakeholders for the progress and implementation of the strategy.”

    Suleiman identified some of the challenges the FSS2020 team have had to grapple with to include: inadequate financial skills development particularly in the capital market; unavailability of investable funds for long term financial products; non existence of listing rules for special purpose vehicles; increasing cost of transactions and operations; weak risk management.

    Other challenges include: low level of card usage on POS and high ATM usage for cash transactions; physical insecurities and prevalence of financial fraud; low levels of financial literacy and inclusion; low acceptability of Mobil payment and merchant locations; non existence of sound collateral management; inadequate legal and regulatory framework for commodities market and unwillingness of private companies to go public; inadequate foreign direct investment and non existence of integrated credit scoring system.

    To ensure that the FSS2020 project does not fail because of lack of funds, Suleiman stated that “the intervention is to advocate that agencies making budgetary provisions provide funds for development because these products need the support of budget to implement them.”

    He also expressed concern that Nigeria does not “have the required skills for these products, we need to build the capacity of the industry, we have started capacity building at Woodpecker for heads of strategy of implementing institutions who were in attendance at Golden Tulip in Lagos recently.

    The FSS2020 director then revealed that that capacity building programme “cost the CBN £144,000 because facilitators were brought in from UK. We will also build capacities in the bonds markets and derivatives.”

    Already, they have identified agencies that will take ownership of these strategies, they are CBN, SEC, NSE, NDIC PenCom, National Assembly, Nigeria Commodities Exchange, Budget and National Planning, Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, SMEDAN and SON (they will be in charge of setting standards for the commodities to make them fit for purpose).

    Mohammed Suleiman decried what he called inadequate legal framework and to address this inadequacy, the secretariat of the FSS2020 has come up with some planned interventions to address the inadequate legal framework.

    He said they have been able to come together with other stakeholders to create some legislative interventions through bill for the consideration of the National Assembly.

    “Some of the interventions behind the bills that we have crafted about three weeks back are the warehouse receipt bills, the securitization bill, the mortgage and allied matters bill, and the SMEDAN amendment bill these are bills that we have so far reviewed and are ready for transmission to the Federal Executive Council (FEC).”

    For now they have concluded work on “the payment system management bill which has been approved by the FEC, the one awaiting the FEC approval is the collateral registry bill which has been forwarded to the office of the Attorney General of the Federation for onward transmission to the FEC for consideration, these are the bills that we need to support the initiative in achieving these objectives.”

    He also stated that they “have started work on the debt factoring bill because we need to look elsewhere for alternative sources of funding for long term financing of infrastructural development and we are looking at the capital market.”

    Reacting to these claims and requests by the FSS2020 team, the Managing Director of the NDIC Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim assured the FSS2020 team that the corporation would donate technical staff as requested by the team “as soon as there’s a formal request but he was quick to remind the team that there is an existing sharing formula for funding the FSS2020 project.

    Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim also noted that the NDIC “has very visible presence in the activities of the FSS2020”, he advocated for a common wallet and appealed that “the CBN should more than others because it is in a position to do better.”

  • NDIC charges Jaiz bank to uphold good corporate governance 

    NDIC charges Jaiz bank to uphold good corporate governance 

    The Management of Jaiz Bank Plc has been advised to strengthen its corporate governance in order to weather the storm of economic challenges that is currently facing Nigeria’s banking industry.

    A statement from the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), said the Corporation’s MD/CE Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim gave the advice during a courtesy call by the newly appointed Managing Director of Jaiz Bank Plc, Mallam Hassan Usman and some of his top Management staff.

    Alhaji Ibrahim said that good corporate governance was very crucial to the bank at a time of planning to expand its operations following its recent issuance of a National banking licence by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The NDIC boss also advised Jaiz bank to be careful in its expansion plans in order to ensure seamless service delivery to its customers. According to him, “as a pioneer in non-interest banking, the bank should partner with its peers such as Stanbic IBTC and Sterling banks which have non-interest banking windows in order to explore more sharia compliant instruments.”

    He also drew the attention of Jaiz bank to the interest being shown by muslims and non-muslims to its banking products and advised the bank to step up its public enlightenment efforts on the benefits of its products and services in order to increase deposits’ mobilisation.

    The NDIC boss also noted the challenges being faced by the bank in investing its excess liquidity due to the absence of sharia compliant investment windows, such as the “Sukuk” (project financing) and other Islamic bonds and portfolios. He noted that “while a lot of countries had tapped into the “Sukuk” investment window, Nigeria was still lagging behind in exploring such shari’a compliant investment opportunities.”

    He therefore urged the Jaiz Bank’s Management to collaborate with the Bankers’ Committee, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Debt Management Office (DMO) and other relevant agencies toward the introduction of “sukuk” and other shari’a compliant investment products in order to be competitive.

    Alhaji Ibrahim also appealed to the management of Jaiz bank on the need to reduce the phenomenon of staff casualization in the banking sector. He said Jaiz Bank as a relatively young institution should avoid hiring temporary staff in view of its negative consequences on banks operations.

    In his response, the MD Jaiz Bank Plc, Mallam Hassan Usman assured the MD NDIC that Jaiz bank had established and maintained high standards of corporate governance that were driven by checks and balances to ensure that insider credits were not only performing but also kept within the approved regulatory limits.

    Mallam Usman emphasized that apart from the bank’s board oversight, its Advisory Committee of Experts (ACE), also looked into every aspect of the bank’s operations and transactions to ensure compliance with financial regulations and Islamic principles.

    In terms of the challenges of investing the bank’s excess liquidity, he informed the Corporation that the bank had made submissions to the Debt Management Office (DMO) and the Federal Ministry of Finance in order to expedite the process of developing sharia compliant investment instruments in Nigeria.

    On casualization, the Jaiz Bank MD said the bank was not unmindful of the negative consequences of the trend. He disclosed that majority of its five hundred workforce were permanent staff, adding that the bank only out sourced a few aspects of its workforce such as security staff and cleaners to enable it concentrate on its core operations.

     

  • CBN increases forex limits to BDCs

    CBN increases forex limits to BDCs

    …To release special intervention fund for Agric and Manufacturing 

     

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has moved the limit that banks can sell to Bureaus De Change (BDCs) from $30,000 to $50,000.

    Addressing journalists at the Bankers’ Committee meeting in Abuja Tuesday, the Managing Director of UBA Mr. Kennedy Uzoka disclosed that the decision to increase the amount that banks can sell to BDCs was taken to drive down the price and ensure that people get enough to pay school fees as schools are about to open and grieving that people who will be traveling at this period will require Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) and PTA.

    Members of the bankers’ committee urged BDCs to approach banks and apply for foreign exchange.

    By increasing the amount that BDCs can purchase from banks the bankers’ committee noted that the decision was not a reversal of earlier decision but a tweaking of the earlier decision because the country is battle a dollar crisis.

    Also speaking on the development, Mr Isaac Okorafor of the CBN said the apex bank “will now have to monitor strictly that people do not abuse the process.

    Managing director of Zenith Bank, Peter Amangbo in his address, told journalists that in keeping with the coming celebration of World Savings Day, all banks in Nigeria will break into different groups to cover all the Local Government Areas in the country to sensitize those at the grassroots on the need for people to save massively.

    Amangbo stated that the sensitization of the grassroots by all banks “is to grow the pool of funds available for lending and the need to save.”

    The Zenith Bank boss noted that “there will always be disparity in savings and interest rate stressing that the gap is not as wide as people think it is and the longer people save the more interest they will earn.”

    On the recent directive by the CBN to all banks to open savings account with zero amount, Amangbo said the decision was new and has been in effect for about two years now. According to him, “there are lots of accounts that can be opened with minimal documentation.”

    On the need to have bank branches in all the nooks and cranny of the country, Amangbo said “you don’t need brick and mortar branches anymore because mobile apps are now game changers as a result there is no need to have beaches in Local Government Areas (LGAs).

    The CBN’s director of Banking Supervision, Mrs Tokunbo Martins disclosed that a decision was taken at the end of the bankers’ committee meeting to start disbursing the special intervention fund to support primary agricultural projects and core manufacturing.

    According to Tokunbo Martins “the CBN took from the bank’s cash reserves called the special intervention fund, that fund has been with the CBN for some time.”

    This special intervention fund she said will be “for projects that support import substitution, projects that will help protect foreign exchange such that whatever we were importing before can be manufactured.”

    This fund she added “will be released to this kind of projects, it will not be released to any kind of project and once these funds are released there will be some ease on the system and there will be more liquidity so important projects will get financing at a lower single digit interest rate.”

    She also clarified that the decision to have banks write off their Non Performing Lao s (NPLs) was not an arbitrary decision but that the “only NPLs that have been fully provided for in the books for the banks are those that can be written off and not an arbitrary right off of NPLs.”

     

  • Naira extends loss at parallel market

    Naira extends loss at parallel market

    The Naira on Monday depreciated further against the dollar at the parallel market, according to reports.

    The Nigerian currency exchanged at N380 to the dollar, from N378 it traded on Friday, while it exchanged against the Pound Sterling and the Euro at N495 and N415, respectively.

    At the Bureau De Change segment of the market, the currency exchanged at N378 for the dollar, N490 for the Pound and N413 against the Euro.

    It, however, appreciated at the interbank segment as it closed at N316.37 from N319.70 it posted on Friday.

    Meanwhile, traders at the market said that the scarcity of the greenback was stifling activities at the market.

    They urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to intervene in the foreign exchange market to ensure greater stability of the naira.

  • Nigerian economy: Recession trends on Google

    Nigerian economy: Recession trends on Google

    The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele and Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun appeared to take different positions on the state of Nigeria’s economy. Are we in a recession yet or not? is the question Nigerians have been asking and they have taken their search for answers to Google.

     

    …Anambra State leads search in Nigeria

     Perhaps there’s been some  uncertainty about whether Nigeria’s economy  is fully in a recession or just “technically” in recession, thanks to recent comments on the issue by the CBN chief and Mrs Adeosun.

    Local interest in the term peaked in the past three months, with questions about the recession in Nigeria  trending on Google in July.

    For those who may still be  still in the dark about the state of the economy , it may be a good idea to pluck a leaf from the tree of knowledge growing in Anambra State. Anambra currently tops the list of states in Nigeria searching for “recession” and other related terms.

    Perhaps the curiosity of the  gentlemen traders at Iweka road, Onitsha, who just needed to know why all  this fuss about a recession, sent the state to the head of the Search list, trumping cosmopolitan Abuja and Lagos, as seen below.

    1. Anambra State.
    2. Federal Capital Territory.
    3. Rivers State.
    4. Lagos State.

    So why are residents of other States not searching for terms related to the recession? Unfortunately, Google has no answers to that question, but globally, Nigeria is one of the top three countries with the most searches for the term. In other words, we are not alone on this one -even good old stable Canada is worried.

    1. United Arab Emirates
    2. Singapore
    3. Nigeria
    4. Canada
    5. Ireland
    6. South Africa
    7. U.S.A

    Below is a list of questions people are asking in Nigeria about the recession. You may want to Google numbers 6 and 9 while you are at it.

    1. Economic recession in Nigeria?
    2. what is recession / recession definition
    3. what is economic recession
    4. difference between recession and depression
    5. recession proof businesses
    6. how to survive in economic recession
    7. how to add value during a recession
    8. when is an economy in recession
    9. how to make money in a recession
    10. causes of recession

    According to analysts, Nigeria’s recession was triggered by a dip in government revenues and spending in the wake of the  fall in global crude oil prices. It’s likely to be a bumpy ride ahead for the country, so it’s important to live by the first rule for surviving a recession- Start saving money now.

  • Skye Bank shares drop further by 8.42%

    Skye Bank shares drop further by 8.42%

    Skye Bank’s shares on Friday on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) dropped further by 8.42 per cent following investors continued reaction to removal of the bank’s board and executive management.

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) removed the board and management of the bank on Monday, and replaced them with another, a measure it said, was to redirect the bank.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the trading on Friday, the bank lost 8k to close at 87k per share.

    The bank’s shares had depreciated by 9.5 per cent on Monday, forcing it to close at 95k per share.

    A breakdown of the activity chart on the Exchange showed that investors sold 21.59 million shares of Skye Bank valued at N18.79 million.

    Alhaji Rasheed Yussuf, immediate past President, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), said that the shares of the bank were on offer but nobody was buying.

    Yussuf urged the new management of the bank to map out strategies to assure and reassure shareholders and investors.

    Further analysis of the losers’ table showed that Forte Oil lost N8.93 to close at N171.90 per share, while Beta Glass dipped N4.17 to close at N38.66 per share.

    Lafarge Wapco shed N3.35 to close at N63.65 per share and GlaxosmithKline dropped N2.24 to close at N20.78 per share.

    Consequently, the All-Share Index shed 147.08 points or 0.51 per cent to close at 28,854.98 compared with 29,002.06 achieved on Monday.

    Also, the market capitalisation which opened at N9.96 trillion lost N50 billion to close at N9.91 trillion.

    On the other hand, Stanbic IBTC gained N1.54 to close at N16.60 per share.

    Oando gained 68k to close at N8.05 per share, while Dangote Cement garnered 50k to close at N191.50 per share.

    Guinness improved by 49k to close at N99.99 and Zenith International Bank gained 33k to close at N15.45 per share.

    NAN reports that GT Bank recorded the highest volume of activities, exchanging 32.47 million shares worth N750.33 million.

    FBN Holding came second with an exchange of 26.35 million shares valued at N100.52 million, while Oando sold 25.52 million shares worth N204.52 million.

    Access Bank accounted for 23.17 million shares worth N132.02 million.

    In all, a total of 234.96 million shares valued at N2.29 billion were traded by investors in 4,145 deals.

    This was in contrast with 142.84 million shares worth N1.35 billion exchanged in 3,321 deals on Monday.

     

  • CBN defends banks against De-Marketing threats

    CBN defends banks against De-Marketing threats

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has stated that banks in the country remain healthy and are coping very well with the sudden movement of public funds from commercial banks to the CBN under the Treasury Single Account initiative of the government.

    The apex bank made the clarification yesterday following reported attempts to de-market some banks after the change of the top management of Skye bank.

    The practice of de-marketing banks in Nigeria is not new. It was witnessed before the appointment of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as CBN Governor when some banks accused other banks of de-marketing them to gain undue advantage in the sector.

    Reacting to purported attempts to de-market Heritage bank, a senior official of the CBN stated that “like most banks in Nigeria, Heritage Bank is learning to cope with the sudden decision of the Federal Government to domicile all public sector funds with the CBN under the Treasury Single Account (TSA) regime.

    The official added that “other than this sudden movement of all public sector funds to the CBN, Heritage Bank remains one of the healthiest and well managed banks in Nigeria. It’s internal mechanisms and control are strong and the Bank has practically overcome the shock most banks suffered as result of the domiciliation of all public sectors funds with the CBN following the full implementation of the TSA regime by the Buhari administration.”

    Also reacting to the de-marketing threat in the banking sector, key shareholders of Heritage Bank Plc have described the de-marketing attempts as “most mischievous and totally out of order.”

    A leading shareholder of the bank, Alhaji Musa Ibrahim Misau told journalists at the briefing in Abuja yesterday that repudiated claims by an online media platform that the bank is co-owned by the former Chairman of Skye Bank, Dr. Tunde Ayeni and the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.

    According to Alhaji Musa Ibrahim Misau “we are thoroughly miffed by the attempt by certain persons or groups, who do not mean well for the economy of our great country and indeed the economic agenda of our dear President, to negatively target Heritage Bank, a bank that the Central Bank of Nigeria and several local and internal rating agencies have ranked among the healthiest banks in Nigeria, as a struggling bank. This  is a glaring case of de-marketing and we have since drawn the attention of the CBN to this very dangerous trend,”

    Alhaji Musa Ibrahim Misau stated that Tunde Ayeni has less than one per cent share in Heritage Bank and Bukola Saraki has no shares or any form of ownership stakes in Heritage Bank.”

    Ibrahim Misau maintained that “it is not a secret that the owners and key shareholders in Heritage Bank bought off the defunct Societe Generale Bank (SGBN) which was owned by the Saraki Family. The Saraki Family was out-rightly bought out. The family, including Dr. Bukola Saraki does not have a dime in Heritage Bank. We have in just a few years built this bank to a colossus that has become the envy of the sector and we are not going to sit by and allow ill-intentioned persons to de-market Heritage bank. No, it will not happen,” he said.

    The shareholders also decried suggestion by the online news platform that the CBN may be planning to sack the management and board of Heritage Bank. Ibrahim Misau said “it is far from the truth. The fact that Tunde Ayeni is a very marginal shareholder in the bank does not at all mean that what happened at Skye Bank would necessarily happen at Heritage Bank. The two banks are not in any way related, the two banks do not have similar ownership structure or management model.”

    Tunde Ayeni he said has marginal shares in other healthy banks in Nigeria, “does that now mean that the CBN would sack the management and board of these banks as well? What is the basis of the claim by this online news medium that Heritage Bank is being targeted by CBN?” queried Alhaji Ibrahim.

    Recently, Heritage Bank was adopted by the CBN as the sole pilot bank for the Youth Innovative Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YIEDP). The programme is aimed at harnessing the latent entrepreneurial spirit among the teeming youths by providing timely and affordable loans to implement their business ideas. This further provides a sustainable mechanism to stimulate employment, contribute to the Nation’s non-oil GDP, and address the challenge of youth restiveness.

  • Court restrains R.T. Briscoe from access to funds over N2.5b debt

    Court restrains R.T. Briscoe from access to funds over N2.5b debt

    *Firm: We’re not indebted to bank

    The Federal High Court in Lagos has restrained an automobile and generator company, R.T. Briscoe Nigeria Plc, from withdrawing its funds in any bank over an alleged N2.5billion debt owed Diamond Bank Plc.

    Justice Ibrahim Buba granted an order of interim injunction restraining the company, its directors or management from “operating, withdrawing from or otherwise tampering with the respondent’s funds in any bank of financial institution within Nigeria.”

    The order, the judge said, will subsist until the bank’s application for the appointment of a provisional liquidator for the company is heard and determined.

    Justice Buba also made a consequential order compelling the affected banks where R. T. Briscoe has accounts to furnish Diamond Bank or its firm of solicitors with details of credit outstanding in the company’s accounts within seven days.

    The judge further barred R.T Briscoe from alienation, dissipating or transferring its fixed and moveable assets, properties, machinery and tools of trade until the bank’s application for appointment of a liquidator is determined.

    Diamond Bank, in its winding-up petition, said R.T Briscoe is its long-standing customer since May 2012.

    It said it availed the bank global facilities which include an overdraft facility, letter of credit facility and term loan, which were all availed in tranches.

    The facilities, the bank said, were for the purchase of Toyota brands of vehicles and spare parts, importation of Atco brand of generators and compressors, purchase of a piece of land in GRA, augmentation of its working capital, among others.

    The bank said following a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive on non-performing loans, it made a demand for the recovery of total overdue loan obligations of N712,488,921.67 and a total outstanding indebtedness of N2,529,687,108.86 as at last June 3.

    Diamond Bank said it agreed to restructure the credit facilities by revising the repayment schedule, yet the company “willfully failed and/or neglected to liquidate the indebtedness in accordance with the strict adherence to the revised schedule.”

    “The respondent is still heavily indebted to the petitioner in the sum of N2,478,284,729.88 as at May 2016,” the bank told the court through its lawyer Kunle Ogunba (SAN) of Insolvency Forte.

    The bank said R.T Briscoe is “insolvent and unable to pay its just and legitimate debts”, and should, therefore, be wound-up by the court in line with sections 409(1) and 410 (1) (b) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act of 2004.

    But, R.T Briscoe has urged the court to discharge or set aside the interim order of injunction because the bank allegedly suppressed and misrepresented material facts to the court.

    The company said the Companies Winding Up Rules require the petitioner to make the application for injunction on notice rather than ex-parte.

    “There are third party interests being adversely affected by the interim order of injunction granted against the respondent,” R.T Briscoe said.

    The company denied being indebted to the bank to the tune of N2.5billion as at May “or at any time”.

    It claimed to have been servicing its loan obligations monthly despite awaiting the final approval for the loan restructuring.

    R.T Briscoe said its business has been “crippled” by the order as no staff or contractors or suppliers could be paid.

    “It is in the interest of justice to set aside and discharge the interim order of injunction,” the company added.

    Justice Buba adjourned until July 8 for hearing.