The Special Investigator probing the Central Bank of Nigeria, Jim Obazee, has summoned the Chairman of Titan Trust Bank (TTB), Tunde Lemo, and two other shareholders of the bank to a “follow-up meeting” in Abuja on Thursday over the controversial 2022 acquisition of Union Bank of Nigeria.

The Special Investigator issued the summons hours after Mr Lemo, a former deputy governor of the CBN, faulted his findings on the issue.

Mr Obazee, in a report he submitted to President Bola Tinubu on 20 December, had said the former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, used “ill-gotten wealth” to establish TTB and used it to acquire Union Bank and Keystone Bank through some persons serving as his proxies.

Mr Obazee had also recommended that the banks be forfeited to the federal government

Lemo, TTB defend acquisition
But in his reaction to Mr Obazee’s claims, Mr Lemo, on Sunday, insisted that his bank followed due process and met all regulatory requirements, including that of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria, in its acquisition of one of the oldest banks and iconic brands in Nigeria.

Mr Lemo said in an interview with Sunday Punch newspaper: “The core shareholders and the banks will respond appropriately. Due process was followed in the establishment of Titan Trust Bank and every process that led to the acquisition of Union Bank was verified by the CBN, SEC and other regulators. The core shareholders will respond to the specific allegations against them.”

In a more elaborate separate statement also on Sunday, the Corporate Communications Department of TTB said the establishment of the bank and its acquisition of the larger Union Bank complied with Nigerian laws.

It said: “On allegations relating to the ownership of Titan Trust Bank, the Board and management provided the special investigators with the share ownership structure in TTB, including the holdings of Magna International DMCC and Luxis International DMCC owned by Mr Rahul Savara and Mr Cornelius Vink. These individuals are prominent global entrepreneurs and have thriving businesses in Nigeria and several countries around the world. The shareholding structure is also verifiable at the Corporate Affairs Commission.”

Investigators miffed by reactions
Following those remarks, Eloho Okpoziakpo, a deputy commissioner of police who is the head of operations in the Office of the Special Investigator, in a letter on Sunday invited Mr Lemo and the two major shareholders in the bank for a “follow-up meeting with the Special Investigators” in Abuja.

The two shareholders, Cornelius Vink and Rahul Savara, had failed to honour a previous invitation to a meeting with Mr Obazee.