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For some months now, Wema Bank Plc has been in the news. And since January 18, this year when its Group Managing Director, GMD, Bisi Omoyeni, was suspended by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for breaching certain prudential guidelines, the bank has known little or no peace.
The suspension of Omoyeni, according to the CBN, was to ensure a thorough probe into the affairs of the bank from 2006 when he assumed office as the GMD of the 63 year-old bank. Although no other concrete reason was given by the apex bank for the scrutiny, it was alleged that Omoyeni's suspension and his consequent arrest by detectives from the Special Fraud Unit, SFU, Ikoyi, Lagos, on March 26, 2008 might not be unconnected with a N450 million loan which he acquired and which record he allegedly falsified. But investigation revealed that the said money was a housing loan which he applied for and took on the approval of the board of the bank. Others believed that the Wema Bank crisis was a fallout of boardroom intrigues between its former Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Tunde Lemo, current deputy governor of th CBN and Omoyeni.
The crisis, informed sources revealed, ensued from a genuine business proposition by First City Monument Bank, FCMB, which offered to buy 30 percent equity of the five Odu'a States of Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti in Wema. The FCMB offer, which was convened to the Group Managing Director of Odu'a Investment Company, was in furtherance to the CBN directive that government equity in any bank should not be more than 10 percent. Odu'a had 40 percent stake in Wema.
Ironically, rather than view the FCMB's proposal on the face value, Wema Bank decided to approach the matter through other means while insinuating that Lemo was the brain behind FCMB's deal in an attempt to push out Omoyeni.
Following the reinstatement of Omoyeni as the GMD of Wema Bank Plc by the CBN last week, a section of Wema Bank workers which had protested against his return to office continued their protest. The peaceful protest, which occurred at the bank's headquarters lasted for some hours and disrupted Omoyeni's resumption. Attempts by the former Acting Managing Director, John Aboh, to restore calm proved abortive as the protesters carried placards with inscriptions: “Wema Bank Staff Say No to Omoyeni,” etc., to register their displeasure over his reinstatement.
Sensing that the workers were up to something, Omoyeni was reported to have written a petition to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Marvel Akpoyibo, complaining about the refusal of some staff of the bank to let him resume duty as directed by the apex bank. The Business Eye gathered that it took a detachment of about 40 policemen from the Lagos State Area 'A' Police Command and the Commissioner of Police Monitoring Unit to get Omoyeni into the office last Tuesday.
Earlier in the week, the CBN’s Director of Supervision, Ignatius Imala, had persuaded the protesting workers at a meeting held to intervene in the crisis, urging them not to be involved in any action that could tarnish the image of the bank. According to Akorede Olorunsogo, the Manager, Special Credit Record Unit of the bank who led the protesters, the meeting was held to find an amicable solution to the crisis. “It was essential for the GMD to resume, as it would enable the company's board to consider the report of the CBN and the Nigerian Deposits Insurance Corporation's, NDIC's, examination reports on the bank,” he said.
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