UBA Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading banks denied it was sitting tight on $530million belonging to the Federal Government, part of its $2.1billion dividend from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG).
The bank said it has remitted all dollar deposits belonging to the Nigerian national Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into the Single Treasury Account (TSA) domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“Our attention has been drawn to report of the ban of UBA from the foreign exchange market by the CBN over the non-remittance of NNPC/NLNG dollar deposits.”
“We wish to state very categorically that UBA has completely remitted all NNPC/NLNG dollar deposits.”
“We thank all our numerous customers, business partners and other stakeholders who have reached out to us on account of this report,” Mr. Charles Aigbe, Head, Corporate Communications, said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the CBN announced the suspension of UBA and eight other banks from all foreign exchange transactions until they remitted into the TSA $2.1 billion in various NNPC/NLNG accounts in the banks as ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari last year.
Apart from UBA’s $530m, First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) is said to be withholding $469m.
Diamond Bank Plc. has ($287m); Sterling Bank Plc. ($269m); Sky Bank Plc. ($221m); Fidelity Bank ($209m); Keystone Bank ($139); First City Monument Bank (FCMB) $125m; and Heritage Bank ($85m).
