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Country reports: Africa and the Middle East
number of cases were brought to court in 2008. Although none of these cases has reached a conclusion, they still serve to illustrate a few important points. Their successful conclusion would show the law’s ability to bring corrupt individuals to justice, but the persistent number of abuses, even after the collapse in the 1990s, raises the question as to whether there is currently adequate oversight in the system. On 11 July 2008 the former managing director of Triumph Bank, Francis Atoju, and three others were brought before a Federal High Court in Lagos on charges of corruption filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.11 They were alleged to have granted unauthorised loans of about N600 million (US$5.2 million) to customers of the bank while in office.12 Accused along with Atoju was Jude Idigbe and his company, Lushann Enternit Energy Limited, and Road Marks Nigeria Limited, allegedly owned by Atoju. Atoju, Idigbe and Lushann were accused of conspiring in May 2001 to make an unlawful and unauthorised grant of an overdraft facility of US$1.4 million to Idigbe and Lushann. The charge further stated that Atoju, as Triumph Bank’s managing director and Road Marks’ CEO, conspired in August 2003 to grant unlawfully an unauthorised overdraft facility of N418 million (US$3.61million)13 to Road Marks. These actions were considered to violate the bank’s rules and regulations and thereby constitute a violation of the Failed Banks Act 1994.14 As of June 2008 the charges were still pending in court. Another intriguing case, involving three managing directors of the Wema Bank plc, hit the head11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
lines at the end of 2007, resulting in a protracted and complex chain of events that had still not been resolved by September 2008. After a complicated shuffling of managing directors, Adebisi Omoyeni took the reins. He then proceeded, in January 2008, to suspend former managing director Chief Samuel Adegbite, who by this time had become chairman of Wema Securities and Finance, a subsidiary of the bank.15 Following allegations of fraudulent practices in the subsidiary’s management, Adegbite, along with Wema Holdings’ managing director Lekan Are, were invited for questioning by the Independent and Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) in April 2008.16 While investigations were ongoing allegations were soon levelled at Omoyeni himself, leading the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) to examine the bank’s books at the behest of the central bank. The NDIC complained, however, that Omoyeni was not allowing ‘unfettered access to the books and records of the bank in a manner that was tantamount to obstructing their duty’. As a result, Omoyeni was requested by the central bank to leave Wema Bank until the special examination was completed.17 The central bank’s deputy governor, Tunde Lemo, also a former Wema Bank managing director, was the next official to enter the fray. In reaction to his suspension, Omoyeni accused Lemo of colluding with the NDIC to ‘kill Wema Bank’, ‘reduce the bank’s shareholders funds’ and then ‘buy over the bank at a ridiculously cheap price’.18 In a letter to the president on 21 January, he requested that the bank be examined by neutral parties from the NDIC.
Guardian (Nigeria), 12 July 2008. Ibid. Ibid. Section 23(4) of the Failed Banks Act no. 18 of 1994. Ibid.; offence contrary to 23(4) of the Failed Banks (Recovery of Debt) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act no. 18 of 1994 and punishable under section 20(1)(a) of the act. AllAfrica.com, 15 March 2008. Daily Independent (Nigeria), 9 April 2008; www.businessdayonline.com/national/7413.html. Sunday Tribune (Nigeria), 16 March 2008. Ibid.