- Eko DisCo reinstates Sanda, others 24 hours after sack
The Central Bank of Nigeria has unveiled new minimum capital requirements for banks, pegging the minimum capital base for commercial banks with international authorization at ₦500 billion.
A circular signed by the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Haruna Mustafa, to all commercial, merchant, and non-interest banks and promoters of proposed banks emphasized that all banks are required to meet the minimum capital requirement within 24 months commencing from April 1, 2024, and terminating on March 31, 2026.
The CBN spokesperson, Hakama Sidi Ali, confirmed the development in Abuja on Thursday.
According to Ali, the new minimum capital base for commercial banks with national authorization is now ₦200 billion, while the new requirement for those with regional authorization is ₦50 billion.
The apex bank also disclosed that the new minimum capital for merchant banks would be ₦50 billion, while the new requirements for non-interest banks with national and regional authorizations are ₦20 billion and ₦10 billion, respectively.
The announcement came just days after CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, urged deposit money banks to expedite action on the recapitalization of their capital base in order to strengthen the financial system.
Last November, Cardoso, who assumed office two months earlier, had said commercial banks in the country would be directed to increase their capital base to service a $1 trillion economy ambition of the President Bola Tinubu administration.
The last time the CBN increased the capital base for banks was in 2005, when the current Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, was the apex bank chief. Capital base was raised from ₦2bn to ₦25bn.
To enable banks meet the new minimum capital requirements, the CBN, on Thursday, urged banks to consider injecting fresh equity capital through private placements, rights issues and/or offers for subscription; Mergers and Acquisitions, and/or upgrade or downgrade of license authorization.
The apex also said the new minimum capital shall comprise paid-up capital and share premium only. It stressed that the new capital requirement shall not be based on the Shareholders’ Fund.
“Additional Tier 1 (AT1) Capital shall not be eligible for meeting the new requirement. Notwithstanding the capital increase, banks are to ensure strict compliance with the minimum capital adequacy ratio (CAR) requirement applicable to their license authorization.
“In line with extant regulations, banks that breach the CAR requirement shall be required to inject fresh capital to regularize their position,” the apex bank’s circular added.
Meanwhile, the CBN said all banks are required to submit an implementation plan (clearly indicating the chosen option(s) for meeting the new capital requirement and various activities involved with their timelines) no later than April 30, 2024.
The CBN also disclosed that it would monitor and ensure compliance with the new requirements within the specified timeline.
The CBN circular further said the minimum capital requirement for proposed banks shall be paid-up capital, adding that the new minimum capital requirement shall apply to all new applications for banking licenses submitted after April 1, 2024.
It noted that the CBN would continue to process all pending applications for banking licenses for which a capital deposit had been made and/or an Approval-in-Principle had been granted.
However, it said that the promoters of such proposed banks would make up the difference between the capital deposited with the CBN and the new capital requirement no later than March 31, 2026.
Eko DisCo reinstates Sanda, others 24 hours after sack
Also, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has clarified that its resolution on alleged ghost workers and crisis in the Lagos-based Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc which led to the removal of Mrs. Tinuade Sanda, as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer and other management staff, was misinterpreted.
The Chairman of EKEDC, Dere Otubu, was said to have acted on her removal based on the resolution.
The EKEDC has been dogged by management crisis which started last year, with the discovery of alleged fraud and ghost workers on its payroll
The sudden announcement of the removal of Sanda, as MD/CEO, further escalated the infighting amongst the shareholders.
But the NERC intervened to clarify its previous directive to the board of the company.
The Chairman of NERC, Sanusi Garba, provided further clarification to its resolution in a letter to Otubu dated March 27, 2024.
He said, “We write further to our letter Ref, No. NERC/REG/EKEDC/GEN/S432/T/36 of 21 March 2024 conveying the resolutions of the Commission to Eko Electricity Distribution Plc (“EKEDP”) on the alleged ghost workers in the company.
“The Commission has noted the strong public interest generated by the current events of EKEDP and the various interpretations of the resolutions conveyed vide the said letter, particularly with respect to paragraphs 4b and 4e. We therefore hereby provide further clarification as follows:
“Paragraph 4b- All staff of EKEDP, irrespective of their form of engagement, will be subject to the Conditions of Service of EKEDP. The Commission deemed it necessary to pass this resolution based on the submission of EKEDP, at the meeting of 20 March 2024, that the Condition of Service (“CoS”) of EKEDP was not applicable to Seconded personnel from third-party providers.
“Paragraph 4c – EKEDP Board is expected to conclude its review of its investigation into the allegation of ghost workers to identify all personnel involved in causing the loss of revenues to EKEDP no later than 27th March 2024.
“In a case where the indicted parties are seconded from third-party providers and since they are reportedly NOT subject to the EKEDP CoS, they are to be recalled to their parent companies to avoid the risk of further losses to EKEDP.
“In closing, the Commission recognizes the powers of West Power and Gas Ltd and the EKEDP Board of Directors on the deployment and redeployment of staff including changes to the management of the utility at any point based on a credible corporate governance framework and in furtherance of the fiduciary responsibility of directors.
“This letter only seeks to provide clarification on the Commission’s earlier communication on this subject to avoid varied interpretations and further to the overriding public interest. Please accept the assurances of the Commission’s best regards and consideration.”
EKEDP had appointed Rekhiat Momoh as the acting Chief Executive Officer effective from March 26, 2024.
This announcement was made through a press statement by EKEDP, and is sequel to the removal of Tinuade Sanda as the previous managing director/chief executive officer.
According to the statement, Momoh has been in the power sector for 31 years. It also states that she has advanced through the ranks, having worked for NEPA, PHCN, and now Eko Disco. During her career, she has won multiple medals, commendations, and excellence awards.
The statement read, ‘’We wish to inform the general public that Mrs Rekhiat Momoh has today 26th March, 2024 assumed the role of Acting CEO of Eko Disco
‘’This follows the redeployment of our erstwhile MD/CEO Mrs. Tinuade Sanda back to WPG Ltd, the core investor who seconded her to Eko Disco.
“Momoh has been in the power sector for more than 31 meritorious years. She has risen through the ranks in the power sector from the days of NEPA, PHCN and now Eko Disco, receiving several excellence awards, commendations and medals along the way.”
‘’A marketer by training, she has an MBA from Lagos State University. She’s a fellow of several organisations including Nigeria Institute of Management, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria and several others. She has attended several leadership and management courses and training programmes both locally and internationally,” it added.
EKEDP also said, ‘’we have great confidence in her ability to perform this role effectively and take the company to greater heights.’’
However, the board of EKEDP debunked media reports that Sanda had been relieved of her duties.
In a statement made available to the media and signed by the Director, Chairman Legal & Regulatory Committee, Babor Egeregor, the company said the purported sack of Sanda was false and that the company did not and had no cause to take such an action.
“It has come to my notice that by a letter dated 26th of March 2024, the Chairman of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), Mr. Dere Otubu purportedly terminated the Contract of Employment of Dr. Tinuade Sanda, the MD/CEO of EKEDC, allegedly in compliance with Orders/Directives issued by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The said Order of the NERC, herein displayed, are unambiguous, incapable of, and unyielding to plural interpretations. There was nowhere in the Order where NERC requested the removal of any staff either seconded to or hired by EKEDC *EXCEPT* those connected to the alleged fraud and negligence i.e., Wola Joseph Condotti, Sheri Adegbenro, and Aik Alenkhe.
In fact, NERC’s directives were issued to compel the Board of EKEDC, following picketing by the Union and unrelenting Staff protests, to act appropriately in the face of a determined position of a majority of the Board members to cover up the alleged use of ghost workers together with the alleged fraud and protect Wola Joseph Condotti especially.”
The statement revealed that the purported disengagement letter was issued in bad faith and served as a vengeful revenge against Sanda for exposing alleged wrongdoings of Otubu, the author of the sack letter.
“Mr. Dere Otubu’s letter, therefore, was done in bad faith and in vengeful revenge against the MD/CEO for escalating the alleged fraud and issuing queries against one of his protégés, whom he has desperately sworn to protect by all means.
“As a matter of fact, the Ag DG of the BPE, representing the Government on the Board of EKEDC, vehemently rejected the attempt to cover up the alleged crime and insisted on compliance with the punishment prescribed in the Conditions of Service.
“Rather than comply with the Orders of NERC, recourse to subterfuge was hatched with the purported termination and the publication of different misleading headlines such as ‘FG Sacks MD of EKEDC’, ‘Tinuade Sanda relieved of her position as MD, Eko Distribution Company’.”
“There are no doubts about a deliberate agenda and unconcealed mischief to misread the Orders of the NERC to malign Dr. Sanda’s reputation for daring to escalate and issue queries to Wola Joseph Condotti for alleged fraud through the use of ghost workers for 3 years, and continuous payment of salaries to exited staffs despite personally receiving their resignation letters.
“Similar queries were issued to Sheri Adegbenro, the Chief Audit and Compliance Officer and Aik Alenkhe, the Chief Human Resources Officers respectively for their failure and gross negligence to audit and detect fraudulent payments on payroll for over 3 years.”
The company said, “We are also aware of a purported press release appointing Mrs Rekiat Momoh as the Ag MD/CEO.”
Emphasizing on the position of the company, Mr Egeregor stated that the board of EKEDC had never met nor decided on the purported sack of Sanda and did not consider the appointment of an acting MD/CEO.
“The board of EKEDC, on which I sit, has neither met nor decided on the purported appointment of Mrs. Rekiat Momoh as Ag.MD/CEO , except Mr.Otubu and his close circle of colleagues have transformed themselves into “the board”. I and all well-meaning members of the EKEDC board, I believe, should vehemently distance themselves from this contrivance.
“The Board is not a one man show, and matters are to be collectively deliberated on and approved by Board members. Mrs Momoh is the Chief Commercial Officer of EKEDC and remains so.
“Mr.Otubu and his co-travelers have chosen to cherry pick the exhaustive interaction with NERC where one of the Commissioners wondered why no one was yet to be tried or in prison for these grievous allegations and how to recover lost funds part owned by the federal government. They are more focused on settling scores with our performance driven MD/CEO, Mrs Tinu Sanda
“At EKEDC, we are known for due process and legality, and anything that would take away from our avowed commitment to due process and corporate governance would be resisted.
“Therefore, let it be known that Dr. Tinuade Sanda remains the MD/CEO of Eko Electricity Distribution Company and has since her assumption of office as the MD/CEO, turned EKEDC around for good, with very great milestones and achievements which every sector player recognises.
“She made EKEDC the number one distribution company in Nigeria. The Investors, Board, and Management of EKEDC believe firmly in her leadership and look forward to many more record setting and breaking moments.”