Banking
Unity Bank Rubbishes Presidential Panel’s N7bn Debt Claim
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Last week, the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for Recovery of Public Property (SPIPRPP) alleged that tier-two Nigerian lender, Unity Bank Plc, owes Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government of Nigeria about N7 billion.
The panel had then threatened to take appropriate actions to recover the money from the financial institution.
However, in a statement, the lender said the allegation by the committee was not only false, but “unfounded.”
“We want to categorically state that the allegation by the Panel is false and unfounded,” the statement from the company emphasised.
Unity Bank explained that in September 2018, a team from the SPIPRPP visited the bank as part of “special” investigation into the banking transactions of the government between 2009 and 2018.
“This culminated in a total of three (3) meetings held with the Panel on January 24, 2019, on January 31, 2019 and February 6, 2019 within the premises of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Abuja.
“At the meetings, the panel requested the bank to provide certain information and solely relied on the information provided for the ‘special’ investigation.
“Throughout the review, the Panel refused to invite the MDAs to any of the meetings to corroborate the bank’s records neither was any adhoc investigative process initiated to validate the SPIPRPP findings. Nonetheless, the bank cooperated fully with the panel.
“The panel in an earlier letter requested the bank to accept culpability and pay off a certain sum deemed outstanding which the bank objected and insisted on completing the reconciliation exercise on the basis that the claims presented against the bank were unfounded.
“Instead, the panel unilaterally halted the reconciliation exercise by refusing to admit further documentary evidence from the bank establishing that there were no balances kept in its books for the MDAs.
“The bank’s reconciliation team were made to sign a register of attendance at every reconciliation meeting, and at no time did the team admit to any liability because the process was still on-going and inconclusive,” the statement signed by its scribe, Mr Mohammed Shehu, said.
Continuing, the bank said, “It is therefore surprising for the SPIPRPP to do a volt face and issue a statement alleging sabotage when it abandoned its sitting and investigation whilst reconciliation was still ongoing with the bank.
“Furthermore, while noting the constitutional power of Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC) as the sole agency of government to investigate, review, reconcile and collect revenue for government, Unity Bank cooperated fully SPIPRPP and its consultants in the investigation process in demonstration of its non-culpability.
“Throughout the process, the bank acted in good faith and as a responsible corporate entity. The bank therefore hereby states its commitment to prove that it does its banking transactions transparently and in compliance with extant banking regulations and at no time took charges on the MDAs outside the requirements of the Bankers Tariff, which guides banking operations in Nigeria.
“It is instructive to note that Unity Bank transferred all the balances of the MDAs in its books to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as far back as 2016, in line with the directive of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“The bank further reiterates that the allegations of SPIPRPP are unfounded.
“Unity Bank vehemently refutes these allegations as a misrepresentation of the bank’s position in the reconciliation exercise.
“We hereby call on our customers and the general public to disregard the allegations.”
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.
The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.
The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.
They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.
They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.
The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.
In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.
The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.
After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.
“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.
“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.
“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.
“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.
“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.
This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.
“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”
Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.
He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.
“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.
“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.
A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.
It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.
The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.
Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.
He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.
Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.
He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.
He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.
At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.
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