Court restrains apex bank, others from selling Intercontinental Bank
CRITICISM yesterday trailed reported plans by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to liquidate any rescued bank that is yet to recapitalise by October 30, this year.
Also, Justice Okechukwu Okeke of the Federal High Court, Lagos, yesterday restrained the CBN from selling Intercontinental Bank Plc and its assets to Access Bank Plc.
The Judge also restrained Access Bank (15th respondent in the suit) by itself or through its agents from acquiring Intercontinental Bank's operations or in any manner whatsoever having the shareholding structure of the bank altered pending the hearing and determination of a motion on notice for orders of interlocutory injunction filed by Dr. Erastus Akingbola and Bayo Dada.
Speaking in Lagos yesterday, shareholders of the rescued banks argued that the development was capable of causing panic in the sector and by extension scare away foreign investors.
Governor of the CBN, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had at the weekend in an interview with The Guardian disclosed that licences of rescued banks that failed to meet the October 30 deadline would be revoked by the CBN, which will subsequently hand them over to the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) for liquidation.
According to Sanusi, "by September 30, we will withdraw our inter-bank guarantees for the rescued banks and we will pull the planks and hand them over to the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation for liquidation."
But, the National Co-ordinator, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sunny Nwosu, said yesterday that it would take nothing less than 18 months to successfully recapitalise the banks.
Nwosu accused the CBN of deliberately working against plans by the board and management of the banks to recapitalise through a peaceful process.
He added that the statement from the CBN was ironical, adding that the management appointed by the CBN for some of the rescued banks had also not been able to recapitalise the banks.
The National Chairman, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Boniface Okezie, who spoke in a similar vein, blamed different policies from the CBN as a major factor responsible for the problem in the sector.
He added that if the policies were not reviewed, some people might resort to banking at home, a development, which he added, was not good for the economy.
During the interview at the weekend, Sanusi said: "By September 30, it will be over two years since we intervened in these banks. And the CBN has allowed the shareholders and directors of these banks to pursue their recapitalisation by looking for their own partners. But some of these directors and shareholders are not cooperating. We introduced AMCON to inject capital to these banks, but some directors are averse to this. Then, we asked them to look for partners; yet, some of them are not co-operating. We cannot continue like this. Now, what is left for them is to either write a cheque for us or allow AMCON inject liquidity."
Justice Okeke further ordered substituted service of the originating and other processes in the suit on the Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank, Mr. Mahmoud Lai Alabi and 12 other directors. The judge adjourned till June 8, 2011 for hearing of the motion on notice.
The order by the court was sequel to a motion ex-parte dated May 19, 2011 and filed on May 23, 2011 by Onyebuchi Aniakor on behalf of the former Managing Director of the Intercontinental Bank Plc, Dr. Akingbola and his aide and director in the bank, Mr. Dada.
The motion ex-parte brought pursuant to Order 6, Rule 5, Order 26, Rule 7 (2) and (3), 8 and 9, Order 28, Rules 1 and 2 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2009 and under the inherent jurisdiction of the court has Intercontinental Bank Plc, the Managing Director, Mahmoud Lai Alabi, Abubakar Sule and Gbenga Alade as respondents.
Others include Olusegun Osilowo, Suleiman Yusuf, Dr. Raymond Obieri, Alhaji Isyaku Umar, Ikechi Kalu, Sanni Adams, Access Bank Plc and the CBN.
Source: Shareholders fault CBN over plan to liquidate under-capitalised banks (http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49887:shareholders-fault-cbn-over-plan-to-liquidate-under-capitalised-banks&catid=1:national&Itemid=559)