By Abdul Inuwa Abuja
Only weeks into the sack of the Managing Director of the Nigeria Export – Import (NEXIM) Bank, Mr. Robert Orya, there seems to be palpable tension within the establishment even as its interim leadership has already been petitioned on grounds of fraud.
In the petition written by a group, Concerned Common Citizens of Nigeria, the group has accused the Acting Managing Director, Mr. Bashir Wali, of conniving with the Executive Director Corporate Services, Folake Itohan, to promote 92 staff who are their known cronies, without recourse to the governing board.
According to the protest letter signed by the group’s President, Halima Yusuf and its General Secretary, Unekwu Abubakar, the promotions go against directives of the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, who had previously held a meeting with the Bank’s interim leadership where she warned against taking actions that can increase the operating cost of the institution.
Accusing Mr. Wali of Financial terrorism, the group claimed that the recent steps by the interim administration pointed to the fact they were hell bent on over burdening the economy via increment of wage bills of over 92 staff, even with the current financial crisis faced by the government.
The group has further accused the Wali led management of conducting a fraudulent recruitment exercise aimed at smuggling 120 names into the bank’s payroll.
“ …the Executive Director Corporate Services working as a proxy for the acting Managing Director has commissioned agents in a cash-for-employment recruitment exercise that is planned to smuggle 120 names into NEXIM Bank’s payroll without any form of interview or advertisement in violation of the principle of Federal Character. Their agents have now occupied the social media to con unsuspecting citizens and defraud them of their hard earned resources in an illegal exercise”. It read in part.
Meanwhile the letter has demanded that while the Presidency orders an investigation into the finances of the bank, it should also as a matter of urgency direct the interim management of NEXIM Bank to revert and return the 92 staff that benefitted from its questionable promotions to status quo until a substantive Managing Director and management board is appointed.
It is worthy to note here that NEXIM in recent history has been in the media over issues concerning the appointment of Miss Folake Itohan, who was severally accused of manipulating her appointment and also dropping the name of her godmother, the former First lady, Patience Jonathan to intimidate the board.
