The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has continued to maintain silence on the reported sale of Polaris Bank.
A report on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, claimed that the central bank was secretly advancing its steps to sell Polaris Bank to an obscure businessman for roughly N40 billion.
The report, which had since gone viral, also claimed that Governor Godwin Emefiele of the CBN had already secured presidential approval to carry on with the sale.
“At issue over the deal were questions of whether or not the bank should be sold to Auwal Lawan Abdullahi, a son-in-law to Ibrahim Babangida who holds the Sarkin Sudan Gombe traditional title from the northeastern state, despite his limited credentials in banking and finance,” the report read partly.
When BizWatch Nigeria correspondent reached out to Osita Nwanisobi, the Director, Corporate Communications Department of the central bank, for comment on the reported sale of Polaris Bank, he refused to confirm or debunk the report.
He, however, asked this writer to text him but failed to respond even at the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, the management of Polaris Bank had released a statement, saying nothing is true as far as the controversial report is concerned.
“Our attention has been drawn to an online report on the purported sale of Polaris Bank Limited. This publication is speculative, deliberately intended to create panic, and should be disregarded by the banking public,” a statement from the lender read partly.
It would be recalled that in 2018, Polaris Bank experienced a rebirth after its precursor Skye Bank was nationalised.
Ultimately, Skye Bank’s acquisition of Mainstreet Bank and its related party excesses had led to the downfall of the once thriving bank.
Following the rebirth, Polaris Bank went through a restructuring that dissolved the financial institution’s then board and management.
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