Alleged fraud at Humanitarian Ministry: Our GMD neither arrested nor detained by EFCC – Zenith Bank
Zenith Bank Plc has said its Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu was never arrested nor detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or any other anti-graft agency in the country.
NewsClick Nigeria reports that Onyeagwu was among the three bank heads that visited the EFCC headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday in connection with the searchlight on activities of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation..
Other top bank chiefs at the EFCC office on Tuesday include; Haruna Musa (Jaiz Bank) and Walter Akpani Providus Bank.
However, the banks chiefs’ appearances at the Commission’s office have since generated mixed reactions with some reports (Not from NewsClick Nigeria) claiming they (the bank MDs) were arrested.
Setting the record straight and corroborating NewsClick Nigeria’s earlier report, the Company Secretary/General Counsel of Zenith Bank, Michael Otu in a statement signed released and exclusively obtained by NewsClick Nigeria on Wednesday said the GMD was neither arrested nor detained by the Commission.
Otu noted that Onyeagwu is currently fulfilling his duties at the bank.
“We wish to clarify that these reports are entirely false. The Group Managing Director was not arrested nor detained by the EFCC nor any other anti-graft agency and is currently fulfilling his duties at the bank,” Otu’s statement read in part.
Meanwhile, earlier findings by this medium revealed that during the visit which lasted about two hours, the EFCC’s interrogators sought clarifications from the CEOs on the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry’s accounts with their various Banks.
Recall that the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Betta Edu is undergoing interrogation by the EFCC over ₦585million scandal.
However, two top executives of one of the listed Banks said media reports (not from NewsClick Nigeria) that the MDs were arrested, is false and misleading. The sources said truly the Banks CEOs’ were at the EFCC headquarters around 4:55pm to honour an earlier invitation from the Commission.
“Reports of arrests of the bank MDs in connection with the ongoing investigation into the fraud case at the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry is entirely false and misleading. Ministries run accounts with banks and if there’s any suspected case of fraud, the respective bank heads will be invited to give clarifications. That is what the CEOs were at the EFCC office for today and it was at the behest of the Commission,” they said.
