Nigerian Stock Exchange

Nigerian Stock Exchange

Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, the Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), said she is not indebted to any bank, after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week listed her name among debtors to two domestic lenders.

“As a finance professional of the highest integrity, I unequivocally state that I do not owe any Nigerian or foreign bank,” Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, said in a statement published in the Lagos-based ThisDay newspaper today.

Central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi fired the CEOs of Afribank Nigeria Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, Oceanic Bank International Plc, Union Bank Nigeria Plc, and FinBank Plc on Aug. 14 after a CBN audit found the lenders were in a “grave situation.” Lamido Sanusi also injected N420 billion ($2.69 billion) into the banks to ensure they meet the minimum capital requirements.

On Aug. 19, the CBN published a list of customers that owe N747 billion to the five banks, saying debtors would face legal action to ensure payment.

Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, who is also Non-Executive Chairman of Transnational Corp. (Transcorp Nigeria), was listed as a director or major shareholder of Transcorp by the CBN. Transcorp owes N6.55 billion to Intercontinental and N30.9 billion to Union Bank, according to the CBN statement.

“I did not take any decisions on deployment and use of funds other than what the board of directors, made up of eminent entrepreneurs and representatives of the lending banks, jointly resolved,” Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke said today.

Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa’s second-biggest economy after South Africa, vies with Angola as the continent’s top oil producer.

Read more articles on Banking in Nigeria

Intercontinental Bank | Union Bank | Oceanic Bank | First Inland Bank (FinBank) | Afribank | Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

Source(s): Bloomberg News