Access Bank Denies Arrest Of Its GMD By EFCC

Access Bank Nigeria Plc has denied the arrest of its Group Managing Director, Mr. Herbert Wigwe by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as it was reported in the social media.

The management of the bank said in a statement dated 10th January, 2020 and signed by its Company Secretary, Mr. Sunday Ekwochi that the issue essentially related to the credit facilities that the bank availed Slok Nigeria Limited through the defunct Diamond Bank Plc.

It said these were secured by Slok’s assets charged to Diamond Bank.

The statement is entitled; “Statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Rumour In Social Media.”

“Access Bank had inherited the Slok credit following the recent merger of Diamond with Access Bank.

“Given the differing interests of the commission and the Bank on the assets of Slok deriving from the court’s recent judgment on Slok, the commission had invited for interrogation officials of Access Bank, who were handling the Bank’s recovery efforts on Slok credit including its Group Managing Director,” the statement read.

The bank added in the statement that following the fruitful engagement between the Bank and the Commission, it was of the opinion that the issues relating to Slok investigation had been resolved.

“As an institution built on best practice, we wish to assure our esteemed stakeholders that the Bank will continue to conduct its business in line with extant laws and regulations,” the bank said in the statement.