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Polaris Bank: 100 Managers Allegedly Sacked with Unpaid Arrears As Financial Institution Fears Collapse.

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2 years ago

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Emerging report shows that all is not to be going well in One of Nigeria’s struggling commercial Bank, Polaris Bank, as fear of imminent distress has reportedly enveloped the financial institution, sparking disquiet among some customers and other stakeholders.

 

In 2018, the Central Bank of Nigeria took over the bank while it was on the brink of collapse, rebranding it as Polaris Bank. Four years later in October 2022, the CBN sold it in a move that has been widely criticized.

Instead of bringing the needed succour, the Bank has been enmeshed in serious crises of survival, the latest being the mass suspension of over 100 managers and unpaid arrears of workers salaries.

In order not to be caught unawares, some customers of the bank especially small and medium enterprises are reportedly taking their money out of Polaris Bank to safer banks, giving them the opportunity to have sound sleep and have nothing to worry about for fear of imminent distress.

According to inside sources in the bank, lately the bank has lost some customers (depositors) who are edgy about their deposits and have lost trust in the bank because of huge job losses and unethical industrial practices currently going on in the bank.

 

Investigations by this newspaper revealed that for the second month, over 100 branch managers of the bank are placed on suspension without pay for having non performing loan ratio above 5%.

 

However, it was gathered that these loans were duly approved and interests earned by the bank. Some of the managers told our correspondent that they did not book most of the loans but the loans were referred and booked by other senior staff who are walking about freely.

 

By labour laws, suspension without pay should not exceed two weeks but the bank initially issued a letter of suspension for 30 days. After the expiration, the suspension without pay continued for two months without further advise to the staff.

According to our sources, management has insisted that staff on suspension must come to work daily and are drilled for performance review on a daily basis with the managing director presiding over the weekly meetings which last late into the nights.

 

Industry watchers insisted that the move by the management of the bank showed that all is not well within the system and the managers may have been victims of scapegoatism due to imminent distress in the system.

Our investigations revealed that because of the obvious signs of distress in the bank, a number of individuals and SMEs have closed their accounts with the bank and moved their deposits to safer banks.

 

A dealer on building materials in the popular Jabi market (name withheld) said: “I decided to move my business away from Polaris Bank due to their inhuman treatment of my account managers. Earlier in the year, they sacked the manager who convinced me open an account with the bank few years back.

 

“I had also introduced him to many other dealers and I learnt the branch was profitable. I was still pondering over the job loss of my financial advisor and how solvent the bank was, when the new manager who took over from him informed me that he is already on suspension without pay yet the management insists he must resume everyday and asking for more business,” he said.

 

Similar stories are rife with customers of Polaris Bank. The bank is one of the lowest paying commercial banks in the country. We learnt that their pay structure is so poor that they are unable to headhunt staff from other banks.

We gathered that what the management has resorted to doing is to employ new staff on a different salary cadre which means new staff earn higher than old staff on the same grade. This has alerted industry watchers to the unhealthy state of the bank.

 

A management staff of the bank who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity said the bank was looking into these issues but that the story was meant to create panic in the industry. He appealed to customers to exercise patience with the bank while it navigates through the difficult phase.

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EFCC Arraigns Five Nigerians For Allegedly Tampering With, Forcibly Accessing Forfeited Property In Lagos

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21 hours ago

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January 21, 2025

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned five individuals for allegedly tampering with a forfeited property.

Lagos Zonal Directorate arraigned the suspects before Justice A.O. Owoeye of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Tuesday.

The defendants, Benjamin Okoye, Moughalu David Arinze, Okey Okeke, Ekene Mgbeokwere, and Eboh Thaddeus, were charged alongside Ilongwo Angela, who is currently at large.

The charge pertains to their alleged unauthorized occupation and tampering with a property located at Plot 165C, Block 12, Amuwo Odofin, Ajayi Street, Diamond Estate, Lagos, which is under an interim forfeiture order to the Federal Government.

The count reads: “That you, Ilongwo Angela (now at large), Benjamin Okoye, Moughalu David Arinze, Okey Okeke, Ekene Mgbeokwere, Eboh Thaddeus, sometime in July 2024 in Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, without due authorization dealt, with the property of Obinna Ezenwaka situate and located at Plot 165C, Block 12, Amuwo Odofin, Ajayi Street, Diamond Estate, Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, subject of interim forfeiture to the Federal Government of Nigeria, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 32(1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004.”

According to Dele Oyewale, EFCC Head of Media & Publicity, their actions contravened Section 32(1) of the EFCC Establishment Act, 2004. The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Prosecution counsel Hannatu U. KofarNaisa informed the court that the EFCC was ready to proceed with the trial and presented a witness to testify.

However, the defense counsel, M.C. Odo, representing the first to fourth defendants, requested bail for his clients, citing their prolonged detention. Counsel for the fifth defendant, N. Chukwuemeka, also referenced a prior bail granted to his client.

In response, KofarNaisa stated that she had not received the defense counsel’s bail applications. The court confirmed this and adjourned the case to January 24, 2025, to rule on the bail requests.

The prosecution called Abubakar Mohammed, an EFCC operative and custodian of forfeited assets, as its witness. Mohammed testified that on July 22, 2024, during an inspection of the property, he met the defendants and informed them of its interim forfeiture status.

“Despite being asked to vacate the property, the defendants later broke the padlock and returned,” Mohammed said.

He confirmed their arrest for tampering with the forfeited asset.

The court admitted the interim forfeiture order dated October 6, 2017, as evidence and marked it as Exhibit A. Mohammed further disclosed that the property was subject to a final forfeiture order from the Lagos State High Court.

Justice Owoeye adjourned the trial to February 14, 2025, for the continuation of proceedings, allowing the prosecution to submit additional documents.

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Suspect arraigned for allegedly stealing bank’s N1.1bn

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1 day ago

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January 21, 2025

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A 43-year-old man Sunday Ozimede, who allegedly hacked Moniepoint Microfinance Bank Vault and stole the sum of N1,190, 728, 076 bn, from the bank, was on Monday arraigned by the police before the Federal High Court in Lagos State.

The defendant is facing three counts bordering on conspiracy, hacking and obtaining by false pretence preferred against him by the Police Special Fraud Unit.

The PSFU’s Prosecution Counsel, Justine Enang, told the court that the defendant allegedly hacked the microfinance bank and obtained the sum of N945, 728,076m, by false pretence.

Enang told the court that the defendant caused financial loss to Moniepoint Microfinance Bank to the tune of N145m, by planting a bug in the bank’s data system.

He said Ozimede and others now at large conspired, amongst themselves, to commit the alleged offences sometime in May 2024.

The prosecutor told the court that Ozimede fraudulently diverted the above-mentioned money from various Moniepont Microfinance Bank’s customers’ deposited funds through numerous transactions to other banks.

According to the prosecutor, the offences committed contravened Sections 27 (i)(b),14 of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act, 2015 as Amended in 2024, and Section 14 (1) of the same Act, and 18(2) (b) & (d) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

However, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

Following his not-guilty plea, the prosecutor urged the court to remand him to a correctional centre pending the conclusion of the trial and asked the court for a trial date.

The defendant’s lawyer, Abdulmalik Ibrahim, in a motion for bail, pleaded with the court to admit his client to bail in the most liberal terms.

But the prosecutor opposed the bail application and accused the defendant of being a ‘flight risk’, saying that he might not turn up for his trial if granted bail.

Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa, after listening to the parties’ submissions, admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N50m, with one surety in like sum.

The judge also ordered that the surety must be a landed property owner within the jurisdiction of the court.

He added that the bail terms must be verified by the court’s registrar and the prosecutor.

The case was adjourned to March 13, 2025, for trial.

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Why we slammed ban on two Nigerian companies – World Bank

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1 day ago

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January 21, 2025

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The World Bank Group has explained why it announced a 30-month debarment of two Nigerian companies, including Viva Atlantic Limited and Technology House Limited.

The Washington-based bank disclosed this in a statement issued on Monday.

The ban also affected their Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Norman Didam.

The World Bank said the companies and their CEO were banned for fraudulent, collusive, and corrupt practices linked to the National Social Safety Nets Project in Nigeria.

Accordingly, the bank explained that the project aimed to provide targeted financial assistance to poor and vulnerable households, which was compromised due to several unethical practices during a 2018 procurement and subsequent contract process.

“The World Bank Group today announced the 30-month debarment of two Nigeria-based companies—Viva Atlantic Limited and Technology House Limited—and their Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Norman Bwuruk Didam.

“The debarment is in connection with fraudulent, collusive, and corrupt practices as part of the National Social Safety Nets Project in Nigeria.”

We earlier reported that the companies were indicted for fraudulent handling of the World Bank’s project in Nigeria.

Last year, the Nigerian government secured a $1.5 million loan from the World Bank for key economic reforms, which include fuel subsidies and the introduction of comprehensive tax policies.

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