The former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on the Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has denied being a director of a firm, Thriller Endeavours, which Diamond Bank says is owing N122.9m.
Similarly, the immediate past Minister of State for Works, Mr. Dayo Adeyeye, has said he is not in any way indebted to any bank in Nigeria and outside the country, but admits that he is a nominal director of International Payment Devices Limited, which Unity Bank Plc says is indebted to it to the tune of N81.24m.
While reacting to the list of delinquent debtors published by some banks on Tuesday, Dabiri-Erewa said in a statement, “I know nothing about the said company, Thriller Endeavour, or its activities, as mentioned in the publication.
“If the bank claims I am a director in the said company, then the company has definitely done so without my knowledge and without my permission. If this is the case, it is a case of fraud and will have to be brought to the attention of relevant security agencies, the bank in question, and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“I once again state categorically that the company, Thriller Endeavour, is not known to me. As a very contented person, I owe nobody any money, not even myself.”
Adeyeye, on his part, has threatened to institute legal action against Unity Bank for publishing his name as a debtor.
The ex-minister said he was only nominated as a nominal director by the owner of International Payment Devices Limited, Senator Ayo Arise.
He blamed banks in the country for the huge amount of non-performing loans, questioning why they would grant loans to their clients without taking adequate collaterals.
Adeyeye said, “Truly, a friend of mine, Senator Ayo Arise, owner of International Payment Devices Limited, included my name as one of the directors just to satisfy the Corporate Affairs Commission requirements.
“I have never been part of the operations of the company since it was incorporated. I have never shared any dividend from the company or carried out any function on behalf of the company.
“Most importantly, I was never involved in any transaction between the company and Unity Bank Plc, and the bank never informed me that I was involved in any transaction on behalf of any company.
“The company also did not inform me that it had any financial obligation or transaction with Unity Bank Plc or any financial institution until I saw the publication in the newspapers today (Tuesday). In the whole world, neither me nor any company that I have interest in owes any bank or financial institution.”
He added, “Besides, it is wrong for any bank to publish names of customers with which it transacts business in newspapers when the court has not adjudicated and ascertain whether or not the customer actually owes the bank.
“As a lawyer myself, I know that it is only a competent court of law that can say whether or not any individual or organisation is a debtor and it is unethical for a bank to publish names of its clients and categorise them as debtors when it should have simply taken over the collaterals used to secure the loans.
“Or is Unity Bank Plc saying that it did not take any collateral before granting loans as much as N45.52bn to the 260 debtors it released to the press? Is it the fault of their clients that they failed to follow due process in granting loans? If they had followed due process by making sure that they take collateral before granting loans, what they should have done was to take over the properties used as collateral for the loans instead of exposing their own incompetence by publishing names of debtors in newspapers.”
The ex-minister said he had instructed his lawyer to institute legal action against Unity Bank, with a view to getting it to pay damages.
[Punch]
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