CBN Officials Ransack Fidelity Bank Headquarters

Officials of the compliance unit of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday afternoon ransacked the headquarters of Fidelity Bank Plc, Lagos, as part of investigations into the $115 million affair.



The bank’s managing director, Nnamdi Okonkwo (pictured), is currently with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over suspicion that the money was used to bribe officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the 2015 elections.

The bank has maintained that the transactions were duly reported to the appropriate agencies as required by law.

Sources informed TheCable that the bank’s executive committee has already made a comprehensive presentation to the CBN on the transactions.

The visit by the compliance department of the apex bank, TheCable understands, is to compare transaction documents with the presentation made by the committee.

Also, the presentation and documents will be compared with the statement made to EFCC by Okonkwo during interrogation, TheCable was informed.

On Monday evening, Fidelity Bank named Mohammed Lawal Balarabe, the executive director (north), as the acting managing director “subject to regulatory approval” in the absence of Okonkwo, who is likely to be charged to court.