PROF CHARLES SOLUDO MUST HEAR THIS
Without mincing words, one can attest to the fact that professor Charles Soludo, the governor of the Central Bank has put in place, policies to ensure openness and professionalism banking institutions in Nigeria. This has brought sanity to the banking industry and restored the confidence of Nigerians and indeed the international community in the health of financial institutions in Nigeria. This coupled with President Musa Yar’Adu’s resolve, that rule of law and Due Process will be the order of the day in present-day Nigeria will make the nation a better place. No right-thinking man expects something to be done on the contrary, especially by a respected bank chief. On August 10, 2007, at the Conference Hall of Transcorp Hilton, where African Petroleum Plc, held her 2005 and 2006 Annual General Meeting, Sebastian Adigwe Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Afribank Plc was announced as one of the Directors on the Board of African Petroleum Plc. But it is common knowledge to experts in the financial institutions, non-operators of the financial institution, and even to the common man on the street that, the Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 1991, as amended, categorically precludes a chief executive of a bank from sitting on the board of a non-financial institution. Recall that the Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) was compelled Tony Elumelu Group Managing Director of UBA Plc, and his counterparts at Zenith Bank Plc, Jim Ovia and First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Jacobs Moyo Ajekigbe to resign as Directors on the Board of Transcorp.
But for Sebastian Adigwe to be sitting with delight as a director in a company that is purely a non-financial institution agitates the minds of Nigerians and players in the banking sector and it has raised so many questions as follows: is the CBN not aware of it? Is Sebastian Adigwe not aware of the existence of The Banking and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA)? Or is this an attempt by MD/CEO of Afribank to ridicule the capacity of the CBN to effectively supervise banks and their Chief executives? Or is it a case of sheer double standards by the CBN? Prof soludo is the best man to give us the answers.
Kunle Mamora
Ibadan, Oyo State