A witness, in the on-going trial of the former Managing Director of Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank),Francis Atuche, Professor Pat Utomi, yesterday, told a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja that the loans granted by the former Managing Director of the Bank were ratified by the bank's board of directors. Atuche, his wife and a former Chief Financial Officer of the bank, Ugo Anyanwu, are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for allegedly stealing N25.7 billion belonging to Bank PHB.
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While reading from the minutes of the Board of Directors' meeting of Bank PHB on July 9,2008, Utomi, a former chairman of Bank PHB said the loans were ratified during the meeting by the members.
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He said the credit facilities were granted to Extra Oil Ltd., in the tune of N3.9 billion; Tradjeck Ltd., N3.5 billion, Future View Securities Ltd., N3.5 billion; Petosan Oil and Gas Ltd, N4 billion and Falcon Securities, N8 billion.
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Utomi, who was led in evidence by Atuche's counsel, Chief Anthony Idigbe, said the ratification of the loans did not offend the code of corporate governance for banks in Nigeria.
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He said:"In the business of banking which involves risk, it is the duty of the board to take decisions on the optimal risk that the bank can be exposed to.
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"We always ensured that illegality was not pursued, but we also recognised that management needed to act and take risk on behalf of the bank," he said While being cross-examined by the EFCC counsel, Mr. Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, Utomi maintained the fact that ratification of loans was a routine thing in all banks.