The House of Representatives has directed the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele to immediately suspend the planned sale of Polaris Bank Plc.
This, according to the legislators, is to ensure that all processes for the exercise are concluded in an open, transparent and competitive bid process line with best practice and procedure for divestment of this nature.
The House also mandated an ad hoc committee to immediately review the total outlay by the Federal Government of Nigeria in Polaris Bank and account for the entire financial input in the bank by the government through the CBN, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).
Adopting a motion of urgent public importance, by Hon. Henry Nwawuba, the lawmakers also want to ascertain whether the conditions and terms of sale are likely to ensure a positive return on public funds thus far committed to the bank, whether as bailout funds or other investments.
Nwawuba, while moving the motion, drew the attention of the House to information circulating in social media on the proposed sale of Polaris Bank for N40billion.
He said the process of divestment from the bank should be carried out in a transparent manner so as not to jeopardize the core reason for the CBN intervention in the bank.
According to the lawmaker, it was necessary to avert public outcry and untoward reaction from critical stakeholders in the economy, foreign business partners banking community, depositors, Correspondent banks, etc. as it is also crucial to avoid the shortcomings of the previous similar exercise undertaken in the past.
He noted that Polaris Bank is borne out of the bailout of the defunct Skye bank Plc that failed due to poor corporate governance and non-performing loan for which a whooping sum of close to a trillion naira of public fund was committed to its resuscitation.
He stated that the planned sale of the bank for a purported N40bn; amounts to just about four (4) percent of public funds invested in the bank, shrouded In secrecy and Opaque and requires that it is done in transparency and accountability to eliminate insinuations of corruption.
He cautioned against the sale of the bank in a way that will pose a threat to its stability, insisting it must be done in a transparent manner, adding it must be contracted to reputable core investors with proven track records, in order “to avoid a flight to safety action by the customers.”