CBN Sacks Boards of Titan Trust, Keystone, Other Banks

The Boards of Titan Trust, Keystone, and other banks have been sacked by the CBN.

Newsone Nigeria reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) led by Olayemi Cardoso, has dissolved the board and management of Titan Trust Bank, Keystone Bank, and two others, according to Inside Business.

This online news platform understands that the development followed a report submitted to President Bola Tinubu by the Special Investigator on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Related Entities, Jim Obazee.

According to Inside Business, the others affected are Union Bank and Polaris Bank.

It was gathered that the decision to dissolve the boards was taken after a meeting between the CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, Obazee, and the boards of the four banks including Titan Trust Bank’s investors who had earlier avoided meeting with the Special Investigator.

In December 2023, the office of the Special Investigator had insisted that the Chairman of Titan Trust Bank (TTB), Tunde Lemo, Cornelius Vink, and Rahul Savara, must appear before it over the acquisition of the Union Bank of Nigeria.

The Special Investigator who had summoned Lemo, who is also a former deputy governor of the CBN, rejected Lemo’s request for an extension of time for shareholders to prove their ownership of Titan Trust Bank.

Obazee insisted that Lemo and others summoned in a December 24 letter must appear to prove that their acquisition of Union Bank followed due process. It noted that they risked losing the financial institution to the Nigerian government.

In a letter dated December 24, 2023, signed by the Head of Operations, Office of the Special Investigator, DCP Eloho Okpoziakpo, the Special CBN Investigator directed Lemo to report at the Department of Force Intelligence, opposite the Force headquarters, Shehu Shagari Way, Abuja on Thursday, December 28, 2023.

According to the letter, Babatunde who was expected to be questioned over the UBN acquisition, was instructed to come along with the promoters of Titan Trust Bank, Mr Vink and Mr Savara, to meet with the team of special Investigators.

The letter directed all the summoned persons to “come along with all the documents/information requested from them by the letter to Mr Cornelius Vink dated 28th August 2023 (attached herewith as Appendix 1). You will also be required to make additional statements to your earlier statement on that day.

“Kindly note that if Messrs Cornelius Vink and Rahul Savara refuse to attend this meeting and provide/defend the requested documents/information, it will be construed that they have decided to forfeit their purported shareholdings in TTB and Union Bank of Nigeria; irrespective of which vehicle that they are using to own the purported shares.

“Should you also refuse to attend the meeting to provide an additional statement to your earlier statement made in August 2023, it will be construed that you misled the Nigerian public with your reaction in the PUNCH Newspapers today which has gained wide publicity in both electronic and print media.”