CBN rescues Polaris Bank for N1.2 trillion, secretly sell it to IBB’s inlaw for N40 billion

In a secret transactions going on, the Polaris Bank with a commercial banking status has been sold to one Alhaji Auwal Gombe, a businessman and an inlaw to the former military president, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (rtd).

According to a source who leaked the secret of a deal that was highly shrouded in secrecy, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Asset Management Corporation (AMCON) having played their statutory role in rescuing Polaris Bank (formerly Skye Bank) after it was almost distressed to the tune of N1.2 trillion, it’s being sold at the sum of N40 billion.

The worrisome development which compel the source to hint our correspondent was that, he has full details of how Polaris Bank was rescued, given the humongous amount of money committed to it, but considered it a rape on public resources for the bank to be sold for N40 billion.

The deal which has reached a conclusion stage would be handed over immediately by the apex bank and it will obviously be without recourse to N1.2 trillion taxpayers’ funds injected into the lending bank in the past four years.

Based on the recommendation of the Central Bank, the presidency has approved that the Bank be sold off, hence, CAPITAL POST understand that there might not be any hitch to the Gombe businessman taking delivery of the finance institution.

It couldn’t be confirmed if the Alhaji Auwal Abdullahi Gombe has previous banking experience, but a source who pleaded anonymity told this online that some top officers in the Central Bank of Nigeria were not happy with the development which they felt didn’t follow due process. The due process, they insisted was non-advert for the general public to know so that those who may have the competence and the wherewithal to apply for acquisition.

The Central Bank governor, Dr. Godwin Emefiele will end his second tenure in 2023 and he seems to be in a hurry to sell the bank to allies of government, if the happening was anything to by.

CAPITAL POST had in 2021 reported how the Central Bank has concluded plans to sell Polaris Bank after injecting the sum of N400 billion at the time.

At that time, this online was told that the apex bank was interested in selling Polaris Bank to “a particular first generation financial institution that has strong financial base and presence in the country, rather than individuals.”

CBN’s preference for institutions purchase of Polaris Bank to individuals was as a result of damage done to the Bank when it was formerly known as Skye Bank before it’s intervention. That reason might probably be why the CBN turned down the expression of interest to buy the bank by a politician and business mogul from the South West, at the eleventh hour of the arrangements.

It was also stated that “the presidency identified some individuals of the consortium as major factors that crushed Skye bank that led to CBN’s intervention in the first instance, which those identified and were scrambling to buy the bank won’t be allowed.

The concern now is, what has changed in barely one year thanks the bank would be sold to an individual?

Meanwhile, AMCON which presently manages assets and liabilities of Polaris Bank has legal obligations to list the bank for sale publicly, but its directors told The Gazette they have limited say in the talks and that the corporation’s MD, Ahmed Kuru, may be tagging along with the CBN.

A source lamented, saying: “without institutional approval, we saw that the CBN governor has deep interest in the sale and everyone fell in line.”

Polaris Bank was nationalised in September 2018 after AMCON bought its debts. It was known as Skye Bank until the takeover. But AMCON has not been able to sell the bank to investors since the takeover, which was precipitated at the time by the financial crisis, recession, of 2016 and 2017.

Four years on, and as the Buhari administration marches out with Mr Emefiele more likely than not to go with it, desperation to sell Polaris was writ large in recent weeks, people familiar with the matter said, and President Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly taken sides with the CBN leadership and other wheeler-dealers involved.

“Emefiele and others convinced the president to grant approval for the sale and they’re now moving to crush anyone standing in the way,” a source briefed on the matter said. “They don’t seem to care that they could do more than sell the bank for more than the roughly N40 billion offer they currently have from their secret talks.”