Skye bank, one of 7 alleged to have withheld $793 million Treasury Single Account (TSA) funds, has released a statement denying any form of illegality. Sterling and Fidelity banks had earlier today issued press statements denying denying knowledge of unremitted government funds in their possession.
Here are few points to note from the statement:
- Skye bank has acknowledged having the sum of $41 million belonging to the National Petroleum Investment Management Service (NAPIMS) in its possession.
- The bank also stated that regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Special Investigative Panel (SIP) of the Nigerian Police are aware that the funds are  in its possession.
- A spokesperson for the bank, Mr Nduneche Ezurike said the bank would file its response to the case presently before a Federal High Court.
- Mr Ezurike said the bank had no committed no form of illegality by having the money in its possession.
Silence from the MDAs and regualtors involved
Twenty four hours after the news broke, none of the ministries, departments or agencies (MDAs) that own the money in contention have issued statements clarifying the matter. NAPIMS is the branch of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in charge of the Federal government’s stake in the country’s oil and gas assets. The CBN, which is the apex regulator of the banks has also kept mum.
Skye bank had recently informed the public and stakeholders that its 2016 results were waiting approval by the CBN. In addition, the bank had recovered N60 billion bad loans and has sold some of its local subsidiaries for N6.2 billion to boost its capital base. The CBN had last year dissolved the board and appointed interim management, before injecting N100 billon into the bank.
