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Fraud In The Apex Bank: CBN Suspends Deputy Governor, Directors For Fraud

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6 years ago

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One of the three deputy governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria is currently on suspension for being involved in ‘a sophisticated plot’ to defraud the bank a huge sum of money, findings by our correspondent have revealed.

 

Top officials of the CBN close to the development told our correspondent that two directors of the bank were also suspended over the multi-million naira scam.

 

The officials, who spoke under the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the matter, said their suspension was ordered by the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, after preliminary findings revealed that they might be culpable.

 

The CBN had on Thursday night said it had uncovered what it described as a highly sophisticated plot to defraud the bank by some people.

 

The bank said in a statement by the Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Isaac Okoroafor, that while preliminary investigations had not revealed any accomplices within the bank, some personnel within the CBN had been placed on suspension.

 

The nature of the fraud was not specified in the statement.

 

It, however, said the need to place the officials on suspension was to allow for proper investigations by the relevant authorities.

 

The statement read, “A highly sophisticated plot to defraud the CBN by some criminally minded elements has been uncovered and aborted by the bank.

 

“Although preliminary investigations so far have not revealed any accomplices within the CBN, the management has decided to place all key personnel involved in the transaction on suspension.

 

“This is to ensure a full and unfettered investigation. This incidence has been reported to the relevant authorities.”

 

The CBN in the statement assured stakeholders in the banking sector that the security within the central bank remains intact and had not been breached.

 

Experts said the CBN as a regulator was being saddled with responsibilities that were related to that of commercial banking and, as such, made its system prone to corruption.

 

Economic and financial services expert , Mr. David Adonri, who is also Chief  Executive Officer of Highcap Securities, said, “The CBN is a banker to the Federal Government; it is also in charge of the foreign exchange market; it is also in charge of regulating the banks.

 

“In some countries, those functions are separated. The CBN is allocating forex to banks. There have been lots of cries that some are favourerd while others are not favoured. This is something that can breed corruption. There are two ways to allocate scarce resources, namely administration and market. That of administration is not always effective in allocating scarce resources. It is only the market that can do a good job.”

 

He also said, “With the implementation of the Treasury Single Account, the CBN is now more of a banker than a regulator. That is another thing that can breed corruption. The CBN is being saddled with more responsibilities that have to do with banking rather than being a regulator.

 

“The attempted fraud allegation is very disappointing, discouraging and is not expected to be coming from the regulator. This is what happens when the regulator also plays the role of a player.”

 

A top ex-banker and Chief Executive Officer, Cowry Assets Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu,  commended the CBN for having what he described as a robust internal control system to intercept the fraud.

 

He said, ‘The fraud attempt was unsuccessful, so it is a plus and indicates that the CBN has a robust internal control process. It shows the level of desperation of people to make money. This kind of thing usually happens in the financial services sector but the key thing is to ensure there is robust system to intercept it.”

 

The CBN spokersperson, Okoroafor, refused to disclosed the names of the suspended officials.

 

He said, “I am in a meeting in Calabar. Investigations are ongoing. Some key personnel of the bank have been placed on suspension not because they are the perpetrators. We need to have a full and unfettered investigation. Please note that the perpetrators are from outside. Two of them have been arrested and no accomplice has been found within the CBN so far.

 

 

 

@ The Punch

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FCTA uncovers illegal oil refining warehouse in Abuja

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23 hours ago

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December 2, 2023

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In continuation of the city cleaning exercise, Authorities of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) with operatives of security personnel have uncovered an illegal oil refining warehouse in Mabushi, opposite Mobile filling station on Ahmadu Bello way in Abuja.

 

The Director, Department of Development Control, FCTA, Mukhtar Galadima after the operation on Thursday, said the illegal refining site was discovered during the continuation of the city cleaning exercise.

 

According to him, about three to four plot of lands designated for commercial purposes have been converted to an area where oil and diesel are being adulterated and circulated to other parts of the city.

 

Galadima explained that the city sanitation task force will look into the provision of the law and make necessary recommendations to the FCT Administration for further actions on the plots used for the activity.

 

He said there was no arrest but the items used in carrying out the illegal refining have been impounded.

 

Galadima said, “During the continuation of our city sanitation exercise in Mabushi opposite Mobile filling station on Ahmadu way, we discovered an illegal refining site where oil and diesel are being adulterated, we have done the needful by moving the items to Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.

 

“From what we have seen so far, about three or four pilot of lands designated for commercial purposes have been converted to unapproved activities, which we believe the owners are fully aware, there will be consequences.

 

“We are going to look at the provision of the law and make necessary recommendations to the FCT Administration”

 

He said the administration will continue to go tough on activities being carried out without government approval,  especially revocation of the titles.

 

Collaborating, Head, operations FCT Directorate of Road Traffic Service (DRTS), Deborah Osho said the city management team during the exercise also discovered that most of the areas in the Nation’s capital have been converted to illegal car mart and motor parks.

 

She disclosed that fifteen vehicles have so far been impounded since the operation commenced about two days.

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Central Bank To Freeze Accounts Without BVN, NIN From April 2024

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24 hours ago

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December 2, 2023

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said on Friday that it will freeze accounts without a Bank Verification Number (BVN) or National Identification Number (NIN) from April 2024.

This is according to a Friday circular by the apex bank which said a BVN or NIN verification will be “conducted shortly”.

It also said all BVN or NIN attached to accounts/wallets must be electronically revalidated by January 31, 2024, according to the circular by the CBN Director of Payments System Management Department Chibuzo Efobi, and the Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department Haruna Mustapha.

More details later….

 

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Adebayo Alli: Guinness Nigeria gets new Managing Director, Its first Nigerian CEO since 2015 …..

Published

2 days ago

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December 1, 2023

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Guinness Nigeria has announced the appointment of Mr Adebayo Alli as its new Managing Director, its first Nigerian MD since 2015.

The appointment comes after John Musunga, the now erstwhile MD of Guinness Nigeria moved to become Diageo Africa’s Managing Director for Southern, West, and Central Africa.

The announcement was given after the company’s board meeting held on Monday, November 27, 2023.

According to the corporate filing on NGX’s website signed by the Company Secretary, Abidemi Ademola, Adebayo Alli would resume his new role within the company on January 1, 2024.

Profile of Adebayo Alli …..

Adebayo Alli, a mechanical engineer by training, holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Ibadan and an MSc in Advanced Process Engineering from Loughborough University, UK.

He joined Diageo, owner of Guinness Nigeria in 2005 as a Packaging Operations Support Manager. Since then, he has gone on to work as project lead for a business transformation project in Meta Abo Brewery Limited, Ethiopia, another of Diageo Africa’s businesses. In 2014, he became a plant manager at the Meta Abo Brewery, and in 2015, Supply Chain Director.

Upon his return to Nigeria in 2017, he assumed the role of Operations Director at Guinness Nigeria before shifting his focus towards general management, venturing into multiple senior commercial sales positions within Guinness Nigeria PLC.

His trajectory saw a brief tenure between 2019 and 2020 as the Director for IPS, Reserve & Modern Trade. Subsequently, in 2020, Bayo ascended to the role of Commercial Director at Guinness Nigeria.

What you should know….

Guinness Nigeria’s last Nigerian MD was Seni Adetu who served between 2012 and 2015. Since him, John O’Kefee an Irish man became the MD, followed by Peter Ndegwa, a Kenyan, Baker Magunda, another Kenyan, then John Musunga, also another Kenyan.

Guinness Nigeria Plc is majorly owned by Diageo Plc with a 58% stake. In the past, Diageo’s only footprint in Nigeria was through Guinness Nigeria and the Managing Director of Guinness Nigeria also doubled as the head of the Diageo brand in the country.

However, after Diageo announced a discontinuation of its import deal with Guinness Nigeria, which meant Guinness Nigeria would no longer import Johnnie Walker and Baileys into Nigeria, it was also announced that Diageo was creating a new “wholly owned spirits-focused business” to manage the importation and distribution of those premium spirits brand in West and Central Africa. Presumably, John Musunga is resuming to head this new business.

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