By Ademola Alawiye

Shareholders of rescued banks have vowed to continue with existing litigation stopping the current management of the banks from handing over the banks to new investors.

The shareholders, who spoke in separate interviews with our correspondent, said that they were not carried along by the banks despite the announcement by the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, that shareholders of the various banks would be carried along.

The National Chairman, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Boniface Okezie, said that the litigation would continue, and would disturb the sale of the banks.

Okezie said, “As far as we are concerned, recapitalising without shareholders will not yield any fruitful result. The management of the banks have no right to sell the banks without sitting with stakeholders. There are lingering cases in the Federal High Court and Appeal Court so the Memorandum of Understanding they are signing will be affected.”

The General Secretary, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Adebayo Adeleke, said that the court injuctions must be resolved before any agreement could be reached with any core investor.

He said, “We have court injunctions and pending issues in the court over the sale of some banks. There is no way they will go ahead and sell the banks without settling these issues.”

A senior official of one of the rescued banks, who asked not to be named, said that the shareholders had always been carried along in the recapitalisation process.

He, however, said that the selfish interest of some of the shareholder groups had made it impossible for them to follow the right path.

He said, “Some of the shareholders are being used to disrupt the ongoing process of making the banks bounce back. We have always been involving them but even some who are out for their selfish interests are making it look like they are not carried along.”

 

Source: Punch