The former chief executive officer of Oceanic Bank, Cecelia Ibru, described yesterday how Babangida offered Ibru a banking licence and how the bank came to be. Today, we heard about how Cecelia Ibru was harassed into prison and how the former governor of CBN ruined Oceanic.
Many of us in the banking sector experienced a period of unrest when President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua appointed a new governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The Governor vigorously pursued prominent bankers with his extreme reforms, charging a number of them with financial mismanagement and embezzlement. Many of us were targeted while purporting to clean up the banking industry.
Hopes that subsequent administrations would quickly reverse some of these draconian treatments of bankers faded. It soon became clear that any official appointed by a previous government would remain in office unless found wanting during their tenure.
My husband’s illness and a distress call
At the time of these unfolding events, I was in America with my husband, who was battling Parkinson’s disease and its complications. Our lives had already been upended by his health struggles when I received an urgent call from Dr Erastus Akingbola, the Founder and Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank PLC. His message was clear and alarming:
“The CBN is coming for our banks. You need to return immediately.”
I was taken aback. “On what grounds?” I asked. Akingbola explained that the CBN Governor and his allies would stop at nothing until they had taken over our institutions.
I was torn! My husband needed me, but my career and life’s work were under siege. I had no choice but to call my eldest daughter, asking her to fly in immediately to help care for her father while I returned to Nigeria to defend my bank.
A conversation with the Attorney General
My several attempts to see the president became futile as he was already in Germany for medical treatment. I sought an audience with the Vice President Goodluck Jonathan who referred me to Mohammed Adoke, the then Attorney General of Nigeria. I believed Adoke would be sympathetic since he had previously worked as Oceanic Bank’s lawyer in Kano and the North. In fact, he had even persuaded Oceanic Bank to employ his wife, whom we employed and assigned to the legal department of our headquarters.
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On my last visit to Adoke, he gave me an unexpected lecture. He told me that he was a Muslim but had studied both the Qur’an and the Bible. Then he asked me a chilling question: “Who killed Jesus?” I remained silent. He answered his own question: “The Government.”
With that, he delivered his message — blunt and clear. He was warning me that the government had the power to destroy me if it wished. He further advised me never to bring my case before President Jonathan again.
I left his office completely shaken. My cousin, who had accompanied me, was so disturbed by the conversation that she went straight to bed upon returning home, shivering for the rest of the day. The following morning, we returned to Lagos.
Desperate attempts to reach the presidency
Upon my arrival in Nigeria, I tried to contact Erastus Akingbola, but I was unable to reach him. I realised that I was wholly on my own.
Desperate to halt the looming disaster, I attempted to reach First Lady Hajia Turai Yar’Adua, hoping she would facilitate a meeting with the President. However, she refused to take my calls. With no other option, I went directly to Aso Rock, where I had always been welcomed before. But this time, the reception was different.
The staff who would normally rush to usher me in ignored me completely. When I insisted, they coldly responded that my name was not on the President’s visitor list. I pleaded with them to take my name to the First Lady, but they refused.
I then sought to meet with the Vice President, only to be told he had travelled out of Abuja. Frustrated and out of options, I decided to go directly to CBN headquarters to confront the CBN Governor himself. But once again, I was blocked at every turn.
His staff refused to relay my message, insisting that I needed an appointment. Even the deputy governor, whom I knew personally, declined to meet with me.
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In my desperation, I reached out to a woman who knew the CBN Governor well. I pleaded with her to speak to him on my behalf. She was sympathetic but blunt, telling me: “The Governor learnt that you and Akingbola wanted the governorship of the CBN. And I told the Governor that he was now the governor and not you. So, leave her alone.”
She suggested that I approach Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab, the Chairman of First Bank, who had played a role in the governor’s initial appointment as Managing Director of First Bank. Before that time, he had asked me to assign one of my staff, Archimogu, to work as his personal assistant which I complied.
When I met him, he looked deeply troubled, as though he carried a burden even heavier than mine. Despite his struggles, he offered me a helping hand.
Before I left, he simply said: “Pray to God to take absolute control of your situation.”
The banking tsunami
I was among the casualties of governor’s banking tsunami. At the time, as Managing Director, I had presented our 2008 audited account to the governor which he did sign and would be presented to shareholders at Tinapa in Calabar. I personally visited the CBN to pay a courtesy call to the Governor and to collect our signed audited report and to inform him of our upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) where we planned to conclude our 2008 financial year and start a new financial year. One of the highpoints of the AGM was that we were going to announce the Custodial arrangement. This arrangement involved 25 banks that were able to meet the N25billion capitalisation. The Yar’Adua government gave each of these banks $1billion to be deposited with their foreign banks. Oceanic Bank was a partner with the Commerzbank of Germany where we were able to raise an import facility of $6billion using the $1billion as collateral which was to be used for PMS (petroleum product) importation. This $6billion was to be shared among the 25 newly recapitalised banks. It took almost a year before the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) gave approval.
Everything was set for progress. Then came the Monday, August 5th bombshell.
The Governor’s press conference
All bank managing directors and chairmen received an invitation to a critical meeting with CBN Governor, scheduled for Friday at 10 a.m. at the old CBN office in Lagos. As expected, we arrived on time, unaware of what would happen.
We sat there, waiting for over an hour. Then, rumours began to spread in the hall that Governor was holding a world press conference about Nigerian banks.
We were shocked and confused.
When the press conference was aired, the message was devastating: The CBN Governor declared Nigerian banks as toxic, effectively blacklisting them from international financial transactions.
The fallout was immediate and catastrophic.
Foreign banks, including those with Trading Lines, Letter of Credit, and other financial dealings with Nigerian banks, immediately cut ties, suspending all transactions. The panic spread fast, sending shockwaves through the financial sector.
A suspicious purge
Traditionally, when a bank faced financial difficulties, the CBN Governor would summon its Managing Director to discuss necessary remedial processes. Affected banks were typically given a six-month window to resolve the issues, after which CBN examiners would verify their progress. If the problem persists, the Managing Director might be replaced, but in consultation with the bank’s board.
The CBN Governor bypassed all these procedures. He made no effort to engage the banks privately, preferring instead to humiliate the industry on a global stage.
This was not banking reform — it was a calculated takedown.
The whispers grew louder. The Governor had a hidden agenda. But by the time the truth became clear, it was already too late, the damage had been done.
The whole approach was like a military coup
The Board of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was assembled at the Lagos CBN Conference Hall. After his World Press Conference, the Governor arrived to address the Managing Directors and their Chairmen. Some banks were instructed to return to their offices, others were to undergo re-examination, while the remaining banks were asked to stay back for a meeting with the CBN Board.
