CBN Governor, Emefiele, Afreximbank President, Oramah, and Others In EFCC, NFIU Investigations Over $300 Million Paid To Acquire Union Bank
Titan Trust Bank needed $300 million to complete the acquisition of Union Bank, and Afreximbank stated on June 6 2022 that it had provided the necessary funding.
Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and Prof. Benedict Oramah, the president of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), among others, are currently being investigated in connection with the $300 million that the pan-African multilateral financial institution gave to Titan Trust Bank Limited in order for it to acquire a 93.4% stake in the Union Bank of Nigeria Plc.
Farouk Gumel and Aminu Yaro, a prominent businessman from the North, are two other people under investigation.
According to sources, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Department of State Services (DSS), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) are all looking into Oramah, Emefiele, and other people.
“EFCC, DSS, and NFIU are currently investigating Oramah over the loan given to Titan bank. Why the loan to Emefiele and other politically exposed persons? Though we believe nothing will happen to him because of his closeness to Mamman Daura. He just bought a house for Mamman Daura at George street, off Edgware road in London,” a senior intelligence officer told SaharaReporters.
Titan Trust Bank needed $300 million to complete the acquisition of Union Bank, and Afreximbank stated on June 6 2022 that it had provided the necessary funding.
It mentioned that the aforementioned fund was distributed through its intra-African investment financing facility.
But the source said that Emefiele owned the contentious Titan Trust Bank.
The bank was founded on December 12th, 2018, and after receiving its National Banking license on April 26th, 2019, it began functioning completely as a commercial national bank.
It made a profit of N644 million in 2019, and N2.9 billion in after-tax profit in 2020.
However, the 2021 audited financial statement of the bank showed it is now worth over N3trillion with only two active offices in Lagos.
“Isn’t it magical that Titan Trust Bank, a small bank with only two bank branches in Lagos swallowed up Union Bank, a 104-year-old bank, in a transaction valued in the region of over $1 billion dollars?
“The President of Afrexim bank, Oramah, Emefiele, Yaro, and others are friends.
“If you need dollar from CBN today, go through Uba Sanni, the Kaduna APC gubernatorial candidate, Sabiu Tunde, or Aminu Yaro. This same Aminu Yaro is one of the shareholders of Titan Bank. He owns 9.07 per cent of Titan Trust’s 58.4 million ordinary shares. His wife works with CBN too.
“Don’t forget this same Titan bank just bought Union Bank, We all know Emefiele is the actual owner of it, even though he is using Tropical General Investments Limited (TGI) as the front.
“Afrexim is aware that Emefiele, Yaro, and Farouk Gumel are politically exposed people, yet granted them the loan of such amount to buy Union bank,” the source told SaharaReporters.
Another source added, “Are you aware Titan Trust Bank’s National Banking Licence is the first that the CBN has granted in the last ten years? Are you aware Emefiele is also among the highest shareholders in Union Bank Plc?”
