BY ANTHONY ANOSIKE
It appears that the last has not been heard of the alleged power play and political vendetta against the Kogi State government by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in respect of an alleged N20billion salary bail-out account at Sterling Bank.
The state government, opposition political parties and other analysts had claimed, from the outset, that it was very clear that the EFCC was pursuing a political agenda. The Kogi State Government, through the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Fanwo, specifically said that the Commission was being used by some Nigerian politicians, and even state governors, to label Governor Yahaya Bello and his government as corrupt through unverified cases.
On August 31, 2021, Tijani Ringim, a Lagos High Court judge, had ordered the suspension of a Kogi State account domiciled in Sterling Bank Plc, following an ex parte application brought by the EFCC.
The Commission had alleged that the money, which was meant for the payment of salaries in the state, was instead kept in an interest-yielding account with the name ‘Kogi State Salary Bailout Account.’
However, at the resumption of proceedings on October 15, 2021, Kemi Pinheiro, counsel to the EFCC, moved an application, dated October 13, seeking discontinuance of the matter.
The application, titled, ‘Notice of discontinuance’ stated, “The applicant, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, has resolved to discontinue this matter in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/1086/2021, pending before this Honourable Court against the Respondent’s Account herein.”
According to the EFCC counsel, one of the grounds of the application was that N19.3 billion would be returned to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The EFCC counsel said, “That the management of Sterling Bank Plc, where account No 0073572696 with the name Kogi salary bailout account is domiciled, has since acknowledged the existence of the said account in their book but claimed the same was a mirror account.
“That the sum of N19.3 billion is still standing in the credit of the account frozen, pursuant to the order of this honourable court.
“That the management of Sterling Bank Plc, where account No 0073572696 is domiciled, has, pursuant to a letter dated September 21, 2021, signed by its managing director, indicated intention to return the total sum of N19,333,333,333.36 back to the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“That it is expedient for the instant suit to be discontinued and the account unfrozen to enable the management of Sterling Bank Plc, effect the transfer/return of the sum to the coffer of the Central Bank of Nigeria where the said bailout funds were disbursed.”
Granting EFCC’s application, Chukwujekwu Aneke, the presiding judge, said, “I have listened to the submission of the learned silk for the application, Mr. Kemi Pinheiro SAN, vis-a-vis perused the motion to withdraw. My humble opinion is that application is meritorious and ought to be granted. Accordingly, the application is granted as prayed.”
The Kogi State government has, however, consistently stated that the alleged sum of N19, 333,333,333.36, which Sterling Bank has undertaken to transfer to the CBN does not belong to it.
It has asked the management of Sterling Bank to provide answers to the following probing questions:
“On whose instruction and mandate was the account opened?
“Why was the account described to us as an internal (mirror) account opened for the management of the Kogi State Bailout Facility whereas it was a real account with a credit balance?
“Who has been drawing the monthly credit interest from the said fixed deposit account?
“Who authorised the transfer of the sum of N666, 666,666.64 (which the EFCC stated was transferred) from the sum of N19,333,333,333.36?
“Where was the said sum of N666, 666,666.64 (which the EFCC stated was transferred from the sum of N19, 333,333,333.36) transferred to?”
“Except something is amiss, I do not want to believe that Sterling Bank was harassed at gunpoint to state in its letter that the account in contention ‘was not opened by Kogi State Government or at its instance
“
For days, the public has been greeted with screaming headlines seeking to force a connection between the Kogi State government and this controversial N20billion.
The Kogi State Government has also taken pains to publish exchanges between it, the EFCC and Sterling Bank in major newspapers to underscore the fact that there may be more to the matter than what the public is being made to see.
When I read the various media reports from the EFCC, especially the commission’s insinuation that an acknowledgement by the CBN of the receipt of the said funds had put to rest denials by the Kogi Government that it had anything to do with the funds, I called some of their officials, who are longtime friends, that the EFCC would need to redeem its image urgently by re-assessing the case and admitting its error if truly it was an innocent one.
With the responses of Sterling Bank on two occasions to Kogi State’s queries, in letters published in the newspapers, addressed to the state’s Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, it is very easy for an uninterested party to conclude that the controversial issue is deliberately targeted at rubbishing the image of Governor Bello and his administration.
Except something is amiss, I do not want to believe that Sterling Bank was harassed at gunpoint to state in its letter that the account in contention “was not opened by Kogi State Government or at its instance”.
“The account 0073572696 is an internal account (liability account), which was opened for internal administration and efficiency, solely to enable the Bank’s Core Banking Application automatically accrue for the interest payable (at 2%) to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in line with the terms of the Bail-Out Facility, which provided for the 9% interest to be split as follows – 7% to Sterling and 2% to Central Bank of Nigeria,” the Bank said.
In response to the question, ‘Who authorized the transfer of the sum of N666,666,666.64 (which the EFCC stated was transferred from the sum of N19,333,333,333.36?’, the bank further explained, “The account is not an operational account, but was opened for administrative purposes. The amount of N666,666,666.64 represents 8 (eight) instalments of principal amount and interest covering July 2019 to Feb 2020 that have been paid to the CBN. This is in line with the terms of the on-lending facility which provides that interest of 2% is due to CBN.”
The media and the general Nigerian public are not that gullible not to read in between the lines even where there exists clarifications by the Bank involved, in black and white.
In all of these, the Kogi State Government has also published details of the application of its bail-out facility on its website. I perused the details and could not but ask the question: what exactly is the issue? If the state had anything to hide, would the state House of Assembly have issued a warrant of arrest against the Sterling Bank MD, when he failed to show up to explain the funds said to have been returned to the CBN?
At first, some said the anti-corruption agency must have been aware that its case against Kogi State was weak, hence the application for discontinuance before the court of law. But a statement released on the return of the money to the apex bank, which painted Kogi State as a liar, confused many.
The issue must not be swept under the carpet as the Kogi State Government and indeed the governor have been portrayed as corrupt with the resultant effect that the public is made to believe that rather than pay workers’ salaries with loans secured for that purpose, the same was fixed for the purpose of generating interest for the governor while some part of the loan was used for other illegal purposes.
This consideration accounts for why the state has been refuting the story with every energy.
Some financial analysts have explained that any government bailout is a loan facility, and that the repayment starts the preceding month it is credited.
How do you then return the disbursed loan to the Central Bank of Nigeria when there is already a contractual agreement to repay the loan for 20 years?
Did the EFCC and CBN cancel the loan terms and conditions without the consent of the Kogi State Government? These are critical questions begging for answers.
In the first instance, a mirror account is the reflection of a loan collected in the books of the principal bank. This is maintained for reconciliation purposes. The balance there is a fictitious balance that reduces progressively as the debtor (Kogi State) repays the loan.
I see Abdulrasheed Bawa as a young chap who knows his onions. I want to believe he did not study this case on his own but delegated to other senior officials in the Commission. He must, however, urgently reopen the books, even if it would be exposed that there is something the EFCC, Sterling Bank and even Kogi State are not telling Nigerians. The Commission must not tolerate any act inimical to discipline, either overtly or covertly, and must deal with such to the full extent of the laws, rules and regulations. Bawa must therefore prepare to punish heavily anyone found to have embarrassed the agency with this warped Kogi bail-out fund issue.
It is not hard to see that the Kogi State Governor, considering his presidential ambition and rising profile in the media, is but a pawn in a bigger and complex game of chess. But there is a need for the EFCC and other agencies of government to leave politics with politicians, rather than embark on missions that could work sharply against the anti-corruption stance of the current government.
Prof. Anthony Azubike Anosike is a political scientist based in the United States of America.
