CBN Investigator summons Titan Bank Chairman Lemo, others over Union Bank acquisition

The Special CBN Investigator, Jim Obazee, has called on Titan Trust Bank’s (TTB) chairman, Babatunde Lemo, for questioning regarding TTB’s acquisition of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (UBN).

According to The Nation, Lemo, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, has been instructed to present himself at the Department of Force Intelligence in Abuja on Thursday, December 28.

During this appearance, he is to undergo questioning regarding the UBN acquisition.

Messrs Cornelius Vink and Mr Rahul Savara, the promoters of the bank, were directed to join the TTB chairman in a meeting with the team of special investigators.

The head of operations, office of the special investigator, signed a letter on December 24, 2023, inviting Lemo to a special event.

The special investigator had in his report alleged that some persons were used as proxies by a former CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to set up Titan Trust Bank and acquire Union Bank.

In furtherance of the investigation into the UBN deal, and response to Lemo’s defence, the investigator in the letter titled, ‘RE: CBN investigation activities: Invitation for a follow-up meeting with the Special Investigator,’ took the TTB chairman to task on his defence.

The letter read in part:

“Please, refer to your discussion with the Special Investigator earlier today regarding the offensive defence that your good self issued in PUNCH newspapers, on behalf of TTB which you chair, as well as the email you sent to the Special Investigator today wherein you tried to provide clarification on your reaction to the report on TTB.

“The defence seems contrary to the statements, made under caution, by the persons connected with these transactions, including your good self, before the Special Investigator at the Department of State Service in August 2023.

“In the said newspapers, you referred to both Cornelius Vink and Rahul Savara as “prominent global entrepreneurs and having thriving businesses in Nigeria…

“In your email as well as your earlier discussion with the Special Investigator, you suggested that both of them be invited to provide clarification on their share ownership and given seven days to make such clarification; failure which they will forfeit their shares to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“We are surprised at your request about these two shareholders. They were given this opportunity via a letter to them dated 28th August 2023 (copy attached as Appendix 1).

“Instead of honouring the invitation and providing the requested documents, we received a letter from the Company Secretary of Union Bank, Somuyiwa Sonubi, dated 1st September 2023, informing the Special Investigator that Mr Cornelius Vink was out of the country on medical grounds and that both “Messrs Vink and Savara will be available for the meeting as soon as they are in Nigeria which will be soon” (copy attached as Appendix 2).

“Up until this offensive defence that you put in the public domain, the Special Investigator has neither heard from them nor received the requested documents.”

It will be recalled that earlier on Saturday, Titan Trust Bank Limited (TTB) issued a press release in response to a circulating report of a special investigation into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which includes allegations of TTB’s illegal acquisition of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (Union Bank).

In its press release, Titan Trust Bank provided a detailed account of the acquisition process to clarify the situation and set the records straight.

Meanwhile, in response to Lemo’s defence, the investigator in the letter titled, ‘RE: CBN investigation activities: Invitation for a follow-up meeting with the Special Investigator,’ took the TTB chairman to task on his defence, inviting him for an investigation on Thursday, December 28 2023.