The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has attracted the ire of a lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) over its comment around a petition accusing Ecobank Nigeria (ENG) and Ecobank Transnational Inc. Specialized Resolutions Company (ETISRC) of wrongdoing in a matter also involving Wilben Trade (Wilben), and its CEO, Marcus Wade.
Wilben and Wade had issued a press release to draw attention to their petition, and to inform that the CBN had promised to investigate allegations of wrongdoing against both ENG and ETISRC. But in a swift reaction, the CBN had labeled the press release as fake and dissociated itself from it.
The apex bank which posted a photo of the press release on its social media handles, including X (formerly known as Twitter) and instagram among others said “This information is misleading and not affiliated with the Central Bank of Nigeria. Please be guided!”.
However, the solicitor to Wilben Trade, Lateef Omoyemi Akangbe (SAN) Partner, Sofunde Osakwe Ogundipe & Belgore Legal Practitioners, has come down hard on the CBN and asked the apex bank to retrace its steps, and take down the denial post from all its social media handles.
Akangbe said:
“Our attention has been drawn to social media posts from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) branding a press release issued by us, on behalf of our client, as fake.
“None of the content found in this release is fake or misleading. In fact, following a letter addressed to CBN on 22 July 2024 regarding the highly questionable conduct of Ecobank Nigeria, ETI Specialized Resolution Company Limited and its Managing Director, Dele Alabi, we received acknowledgment from CBN that the complaint had been forwarded to Ecobank, and that the outcome of engagement would be communicated to us as soon as possible”.
The counsel who warned of legal consequences for CBN further noted that CBN, as the regulator of the nation’s financial system, is under obligation to ensure that corruption or issues that could undermine the sector are thoroughly scrutinized and resolved.
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“As the national bank regulator, CBN is obligated to investigate matters that could undermine the integrity of Nigeria’s financial system, in line with their mandate to “promote a sound financial system in Nigeria”.
“In response to CBN’s misleading social media posts, we have formally requested a full retraction, as labelling our press release as fake is both untrue and defamatory. Failure to do so may result in legal action.”
The senior lawyer noted in his response to the head of corporate communications of CBN, that the press release issued on behalf of his client does not “purport to have been issued by, or for, the Central Bank of Nigeria. It claimed no affiliation with the Central Bank of Nigeria”.
While, maintaining that the contents of the document are factually correct, Akangbe revealed that by a letter dated 22 July 2024, “we wrote, on behalf of our clients, a letter to the Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability Directorate of the Central Bank of Nigeria to complain about the conduct of Ecobank Nigeria, ETI Specialized Resolution Company Limited and its Managing Director, Mr Oladele Alabi.
“In response thereto, we received an email on 26 July 2024 from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s CPDComplaintsMgt, with the email address cpd@cbn.gov.ng, advising us that the complaint had been forwarded to Ecobank, and that the outcome of the “engagement” with Ecobank would be communicated to us as soon as possible.
“The said press release was in relation to this and was factually accurate.
In the light of the above, the labelling of the document as “FAKE’ is untrue and defamatory. We, accordingly, demand that the post be retracted and taken down”.
When contacted, a source within the CBN who spoke on condition of anonymity had told Naomisophyblog, “yes, we are receipt of the complaint against Ecobank, and it is being looked into. I’m not sure, but I think we have written to the lawyer to that effect”.
Findings reveal that trouble started in 2021 after Ecobank Nigeria through ETISRC filed a case against Wilben and Mr Wade complaining that it suffered a loss in 2014/15. But Wilben claimed the actions of ENG and ETISRC have caused it significant financial and reputational damage.
ENG said its losses resulted from a loan transaction with an existing customer, Agrico Agbe Limited and associate company, Little Rose Trading LLC.
It was gathered that after attempts to recover losses from the original customers failed, ETISRC tried to recover them from Mr Wade and Wilben who had stood in as sureties for the loan.
Speaking further on the matter, Akangbe insisted that by investigating the allegations against ENG and ETISRC, the CBN would be sending a clear indication that it is willing to act on its mandate to promote a sound financial system and counter corruption across the financial industry.
“As a key player in the industry, any perceived corruption or unethical behaviour by Ecobank Nigeria must be dealt with to the full extent of the law”, he said.
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