FBN Says Director Questioned as Nigeria Probes Bank Transactions

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: FBN Holdings Plc, Nigeria’s biggest lender by assets, said one of its directors was invited and questioned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as part of a wider probe into alleged illegal transactions by the country’s banks.

Executive Director Dauda Lawal was questioned about sums allegedly distributed by a former minister of petroleum, and is cooperating fully with the agency, the Lagos-based lender said in a statement Friday on the Nigerian Stock Exchange website.

EFCC spokesman Wilson Uwujaren did not immediately respond to calls or a text message seeking comments.

The questioning of the FBN director brings to four the number of Nigerian lenders whose officials have been interrogated by the anti-graft agency since last week over alleged illegal dealings. Fidelity Bank Plc appointed Mohammed Balarabe as acting head on May 3 after the agency arrested Managing Director Nnamdi Okonkwo.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office a year ago after contesting elections on an anti-corruption platform, is encouraging anti-graft agencies to perform their duties. The country ranks 136th out of 168 nations in Transparency International’s 2015 Corruption Perception Index.

Source: Bloomberg Business News