By Omoh Gabriel, Business Editor
Suspended Wema Bank Managing Director Mr. Adebisi Omoyeni who was cleared by the CBN two weeks age resumes office today. CBN officials on Friday confirmed that Wema bank board and Odua Group have met the conditions given to them by the CBN thus paving the way for Omoyeni to resume office as Group Managing Director of the bank.
According to CBN sources at the banking supervision department, the six law suits instituted against the CBN by some directors of Wema Bank have all been withdrawn as at Friday 29th August which is the deadline for the withdrawal. Although Omoyeni could not be reached as he did not pick his phone, Wema Bank staffers told Vanguard they were waiting for him to resume so that the bank can put the crisis that engulfed it behind and move forward.
CBN had two weeks ago cleared the embattled group managing director and asked that he resumes office today after the board of Wema, Odua Group, Directors of Wema and Omoyeni met with CBN, NDIC and SEC to resolve issues arising from the crisis.
A statement from CBN two weeks ago signed by Festus Odoko, Head Corpoate Affairs CBN had said however that all law suits by parties to the dispute will have to be withdrawn. From the courts before Omoyeni could return to office. This condition Vanguard learnt was met by the parties involved.
CBN in the statement that cleared Omoyeni had said ‚ÄúFollowing a long and exhaustive meeting on WEMA Bank today by the CBN, NDIC, SEC, O’DUA Group Ltd, Mr. J.O. Omoyeni, and members of the Board of Directors of Wema Bank on the crisis that engulfed the bank and the way forward, the following conclusions/agreements on the road map for repositioning the bank were unanimously reached by all the parties as follows:
“All the six pending lawsuits relating to the present crisis in Wema bank shall be withdrawn by the parties who initiated them on or before 29th August, 2008 and copies of the notices of discontinuance served on CBN. The withdrawal shall be on the basis that each party undertakes to bear its own cost.
The two nominees (non-executive directors) of Odua Group shall take their positions on the Board of Wema bank
‚ÄúFollowing the withdrawal of all the suits as mentioned above, CBN shall recall the Managing Director of Wema bank Mr. J. A. Omoyeni, to duty by 1st September, 2008. Three independent executive directors shall be appointed by CBN from outside the South West geo-political zone to strengthen Wema bank’s management team. The three independent executive directors shall serve for a period of 3-4 months.
‚ÄúThe Joint CBN/NDIC Special Examination Report on Wema bank shall be laid before the Board of Wema bank for immediate consideration and the Board’s response/comments shall be forwarded to CBN not later than 15th September 2008. The Board and Management of Wema bank shall, under the supervision of SEC, dispose of the warehoused shares of Wema bank (about 2.7 billion shares) in a transparent manner in order to improve Wema bank’s liquidity position and correct the irregularities in the earlier sale of the shares.
‚ÄúFollowing the disposal of the shares, a new list of shareholders will be compiled. A new Board shall be constituted based on the new shareholding structure which shall in turn appoint a full set of management team. The disposal of the warehoused shares as well as the constitution of a new Board and Management team shall be concluded not later than end October, 2008″.
It will be recalled that Mr. Adebisi Omoyeni was on Wednesday March 26th arrested by detectives from the Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, for allegedly defrauding the bank to the tune of N450 million. The embattled managing director was arrested in Abuja and brought to Lagos But investigation it was learnt showed that the said N450million was a loan he applied for and took on the approval of the board of the bank. Informed sources said that the said money was traced to an account in Federal Mortgage bank where he deposited the money awaiting the time he would find a suitable house to buy in Abuja.
Wema Bank 29/08/08
