…Experts Accuse Ex-CBN Boss, Emefiele Of Politics, Ask New Chief To Take Action
The
fortunes of the once bubbling Heritage Bank have continued to sink deeper and
deeper, gradually moving from a state of comatose to a complete death situation
with customers’ deposits on the line if nothing is done immediately by the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to salvage the situation.
Founded
with a unique philosophy to create, preserve and transfer wealth to its
customers, today, the reverse is the case as the lender has continued to
create, preserve and transfer anguish, pain and poverty to its depositors
nationwide.
The bank
was established in 2012 and began operations with a sweet story of hard work
and determination emerging from a business combination of Heritage Banking
Company Limited (HBCL) and Enterprise Bank Limited (EBL) after the acquisition
of Societe Generale of Nigeria’s (SGBN) license by IEI Investment Ltd from the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). IEI Investment Limited is owned by Mr. Ifie
Sekibo, the pioneer managing director cum chief executive officer of the bank.
The sweet story continued as Heritage Bank returned 100 per cent of existing SGBN account holders’ funds which were frozen at the closure of the SGBN.
This move
brought a lot of smiles to the faces of former account holders and inspired
many of them to open new accounts with Heritage Bank. In October 2014, Heritage
Banking Company Ltd successfully met the requirements of the Asset Management
Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and the CBN toward owning 100% shares in
Enterprise Bank Ltd.
SGBN,
which was incorporated in December 1976 and commenced full banking operations
in August 1977, pioneered the introduction of e-banking services including its
flagship, the 24/7 Cashpoint through the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in
1990.
Heritage
Bank, however, continued with this legacy as the bank invested heavily on
technology and in a few years, the lender rose to become one of the leading
financial service providers in the country.
Despite
finding itself in a fiercely competitive banking environment, the bank remained
resilient, navigating through and was steadily rising to compete with the
bigger Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in the country.
Heritage
Bank, however, ran into troubled waters in 2016 when the anti-graft agency, the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) raised its hammer against the
lender following a series of alleged fraud and money laundering cases.
For
instance, in one of those major cases, a Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos had
ordered the final forfeiture of the sums of N1,260,000,000, $327,132.35,
£167.85 and €157.90 which were allegedly hidden in the bank. The order came
following an ex parte application filed by the EFCC, against Heritage Bank and
Secure Electronics Technology Limited. The funds were discovered, following an
intelligence report received by the commission, and investigations which
revealed no owner to the funds. In an affidavit in support of the application,
EFCC stated that Heritage Bank did not provide any legitimate explanation for
the monies and “consequently returned the said money through 16 separate bank
drafts issued in favour of the EFCC Recovered Funds Account.”
Just
immediately after this, in 2019, the bank again found itself battling with
corporate governance and operational stability/sustainability issues, prominent
of which included, but not limited to the acquisition of Enterprise Bank – a
transaction that turned out to be a major strategic error – and non-performing
loans (NPLs) portfolio, which was at the time, amongst the most challenged in
the industry.
At the
acquisition of Enterprise Bank, Heritage bought some outstanding loans over.
Some influential personalities who had secured loans from the defunct
Enterprise Bank however refused to pay back the facilities.
These and
other impending factors however placed the bank on a slow pace, making it
navigate steadily while setting up approaches to surmount its many challenges
and return to its old glory.
From a
rising profile and astrological growth, Heritage Bank’s shining light has
however begun to dim and dim almost crossing the redline except something
drastic is done by the CBN to rescue it.
It is
however shocking that at a time the bank is in dire need of capitalization, the
current managing director and chief executive of the bank, Mr. Akinola
George-Taylor and some board members are entangled a boardroom tussle for the
soul of the lender, compounding the bank’s many challenges.
Recall,
that THE WITNESS had exclusively reported that the tussle which had led to the
sack of several officials of the bank by Mr. George-Taylor was allegedly in a
bid by a top shareholder of the bank to solely take over the lender and get rid
of the owners.
Another
report by an online newspaper suggested that the bank’s head of IT had
absconded with a whopping N49 billion of depositors’ funds without trace.
Although the lender had in a statement dismissed the news as “wrong and
defamatory,” our investigations revealed that the situation in the bank has
degenerated as some of its customers informed THE WITNESS that they have been
unable to access their funds.
Fresh
findings show that the bank’s bankruptcy issues, and inability to meet
obligations to depositors have worsened and grown from bad to worse since Mr.
George-Taylor assumed office as the bank’s head honcho in September 2022.
A visit
by our correspondents to most of the bank’s branches in Lagos, Abuja, Ogun,
Port Harcourt, Enugu and Benin City, shows that the entire system and
activities of the bank has been completely shut down.
“Do you
know that it’s so bad that they could not pay me a paltry sum of N50, 000 at
the counter. I have been to branches on Victoria Island, Marina, Idumota, they
said they don’t have cash to pay. I even asked my staff who lives on the
Mainland to check their branches on Allen Avenue and at Adeniyi Jones, it’s the
same story of no cash. My business is crumbling because I couldn’t access my
funds in the bank. Their ATM machines have been shut down for months. Is it not
time for the CBN to take over the bank and give us our money?” a frustrated
customer of the bank, identified as Dabiri Adekunle told our correspondent
during a visit to the bank’s branch located at Plot 115, Adeola Odeku Street,
Victoria Island Lagos.
Some of
the affected customers have, however, taken their pains to the social media
even as the CBN keeps mute over the situation.
The bank
is now a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
Some
depositors took the battle to the Facebook page of the bank, https://web.facebook.com/HeritageBankPlc
to narrate their ordeal.
See
below:
Heritage
Bank, a ticking time bomb waiting to explode
Experts
accuse Emefiele of politics, ask new CBN chief take immediate action
Meanwhile,
financial analysts and stakeholders have tackled the CBN under the suspended
governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele for refusing to take action over the distressed
state of the bank.
Some of
the analysts who spoke to THE WITNESS accused Emefiele of playing politics at
the expense of depositors’ sweat in the bank despite seeing the risk and not
wielding its hammer on the bank despite its troubled and distressed state.
They
however urged the new CBN chief to take immediate action by nationalizing the
bank like others in the past to save it from complete collapse even as the
lender crosses the redline.
Mr Henry
Effiong, an economic analyst, told said that the CBN needed to take a closer
look, considering that the bank is not listed on the capital market which would
have enabled public scrutiny.
“I
believe Heritage Bank is getting away with its underperformance because it is
not listed on the capital market and not open to public scrutiny. The CBN needs
to set up its oversight functions over these banks, especially those not listed
on the exchange,” he asserted. But from what we can see, Heritage Bank is in
dire need of re-capitalization and if the owners cannot step up on its task,
the apex bank should rise to its responsibility by withdrawing its license and
resurrecting the institution from complete collapse.
“I think
the suspended governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele has some questions to answer
about the state of Heritage Bank. He might have been involved in some kind of
politics because why should he leave to degenerate to this state and pretend
that all is well?
“The new
Acting Governor of the CBN should immediately set up a committee to review the
state of Heritage Bank and if necessary, revoke its license and restructure the
bank to stay afloat,”
Making a
similar case, Mr. Kayode Olorunfemi, a capital market expert noted that the
quality of services Nigerian banks offer their customers are nothing to be
desired, especially those not listed on the stock market.
“The
major culprits are banks that are not listed on the stock exchange like Heritage
Bank,” he said.
He
explained further that, “when a bank’s leadership and corporate governance
policies are zero, it will surely fail. This is the story of Heritage Bank.
“I think
so many things are wrong with the bank and surprisingly, the CBN has feigned
ignorance. The CBN needs to look into these banks to protect depositor’s funds,
especially at this time that the economy is seriously challenged.
“It must
take seriously the series of customers’ complaints against Heritage Bank and
other banks that are not on the stock market.”
“We
cannot afford to witness another drama in the banking sector like the 2009
crisis. It’s obvious Heritage Bank has failed the stress test,” he concluded.
Ozenna
Utulu, the head of Corporate Communications of Heritage Bank did not respond to
THE WITNESS calls placed to her mobile line for the bank’s position as at press
time
0 Comments