Tier two lender, Skye bank has passed the buck on its current woes to the immediate past chairman, and past MDs. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in July 2016 sacked the previous management of the bank and has so far pumped a N100 billion into the bank as bailout. The bank has allegedly sought the assistance of the presidency to recover funds allegedly misappropriated by its previous Chairman Tunde Ayeni.
Here’s a summary of the bank’s alleged petition to the Presidency:
- A forensic audit by KPMG shows the bank kept two sets of accounts: One for regulators and the other showing the true state.
- The previous chairman, Tunde Ayeni allegedly used his position to obtain loans above regulatory limit.
- Ayeni’s industry exposure to the bank is put at N150 billion. The exposure covers both Ibadan and Yola electiricity distribution companies and Nitel.
- Ayeni’s personal exposure is put at N70 billion.
- The loans are said to be to seriously challenged.
- N33 billion was also traced to the former chairman, of which N7 billion was disbursed for the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign.
- Ayeni and several individuals allegedly received  N29.5 billion related to the acquisition of Mainstreet bank.
- The bank is seeking the assistance of the government to seize Ayeni’s assets.
Related parties to the petition include previous Managing Directors of the bank Akinsola Akinfewa, Timothy Oguntayo and Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti
Why the bank made this move
Though the bank has yet to officially confirm if it authored the petition, the bank may have decided to fly the kite of a petition to put pressure on its debtors to pay up on their loans. Recovered funds would enable the bank to boost its capital base.
This goes beyond previous MDs
In addition to past senior management, the auditor and regulators also have a share in the blame game. How did these anomalies in the balance sheet escape the attention of previous auditors ? Several analysts had raised question as to the manner and modality in which Skye bank acquired Mainstreet bank, yet the deal was approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Regulators prefer to wait till dire moments before intervening.
Recovering the assets will be an uphill task
The assets the bank intends to recover are barely making any profit. Distribution companies in the country are currently weighed down by huge receivables (these are debts people owe them). Ntel is a marginal player in the telecoms space, and had been making moves to raise capital to fund its expansion. General TY Danjuma is said to have shareholding in Ntel and is currently the chairman. The country being in recession means getting  a buyer may be difficult.
