Taraba Investment and Property Company followed the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the appointment of the new management of Taraba Micro Finance Bank, its subsidiary, the company explained Wednesday.
Ezekiel Iliya, the managing director, said this was contrary to reports in some quarters.
Iliya disclosed this while reacting to allegations that the company had illegally appointed the new management team led by Veronica Musa, the managing director.
Iliya explained that the tenure of the old management which came on board on September 15, 2014 had elapsed after four years in office in line with the CBN guidelines.
He noted that trouble started when the new MD, Musa, assumed office, as some “disgruntled” staff attacked, slapped her and vandalised the CCTV facilities she installed.
He explained that the action by some of the staff, apparently to prevent the management from unravelling their corrupt practices, led to the closure of the bank by the state government, with security operatives guarding the premises.
Iliya said that the tenure of the Benjamin Orume-led Board, which came into office by September 15, 2014, had elapsed after four years, as required by CBN guidelines.
He said that the expiration of their tenure of office was affirmed by a Yola Division of the Court of Appeal judgment led by Justice Chidi Nwaoma Uwa against the former MD Malam Nasiru Baba on December 9, 2019.
“The Taraba Investment and Property Company having 92.5 per cent of shares in the bank applied to the Corporate Affairs Commission for approval to hold the Annual General Meeting in pursuance of section 213(2) of companies and allied matters Act CAP C 20 2004.
“The CAC gave due approval and the AGM was successfully held where the new management was lawfully elected by majority of the members.
“This is Corruption fighting back as you can see from the evidence, this matter is like the case of a farmer who did not catch a thief and the thief turns around trying to catch the owner of the farm,” he said.
Iliya explained that the action of the staff must be connected with the forensic audit which showed the huge sum N2.8 billion missing in the hands of the old management and EFCC is investigating them currently.
“The public should be aware that the media publications against the new Management of the bank and I are just mere propaganda,” he said.
Iliya, who displayed copies of the relevant documents to the press, vowed that no amount of propaganda would stop the EFCC from recovering the stolen N2.8 billion, adding that his legal team had already taken steps to support the investigations.
