Besides, our investigations show that the government-owned bank has continued to give out loans in form of mass transit buses to companies without appearing to have learnt from its experience managing the SURE-P revolving loans scheme.

Investigations show that in 2015, TIB gave vehicles for mass transit purposes to companies that either never operated in the transport business or lacked capacity to successfully manage a mass transit operation. In some cases, it appeared, some of the companies were registered or their initial business focus changed to be able to take the car loans.

For example, Global Leasing Limited, a company incorporated in 1997 to “carry on the business of equipment leasing, hiring, renting or otherwise dealing in tractors, machines and other heavy duty equipment, machinery and vehicles normally used in dredging, loading, carting in the oil industry” got two loans totaling over N2 billion. It got the first loan of N1,058,300,000 or 60 buses (one billion, fifty eight million, three hundred thousand naira) on January 20, 2015 and a second one of N1,005,337,500 or 60 buses (one billion, five million, three hundred and thirty seven thousand five hundred naira on December 24, 2015.

It is one of only few companies to have received loans twice and the private firm with the second largest loan portfolio but checks at the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, shows that it was not incorporated to do and had never been involved in mass transit business. Besides, the company that got a loan of over two billion had a share capital of only N2 million. However, the company is not known to have defaulted on its loans.

Intermission Global Investment Limited, the company that got the biggest loan of N2,999,053,575 or 206 buses from TIB in March, 2015 was incorporated in 2009 to undertake strictly construction business. With a share capital of N1 million, the company’s ownership changed in June 2014, the same day that its focus of business shifted from construction business to mass transportation.

Also questionable is the loan given to Safetrip Limited, a company incorporated in 2009 to carry on all kinds of businesses in the transportation sector. The company actually got two loans; the first one of N227,620,000 in January, 2012. A year later, the loan had to be restructured as the company was falling back badly on repayments. Safetrip commenced repayment of the restructured loan in March 2013 and as at March 2016 it had repaid only N32,575,295, according to bank documents obtained by the icirnigeria.org, thus entering the bad books of chronic defaulters. However, in spite of its terrible experience with the company, TIB went ahead to grant another loan of N185,250,000 to Safetrip in April 2014. Not surprisingly, the company has paid back only N6.3 million of the loan as at March 2016.

Efforts to get TIB’s reaction to this story were fruitless as the bank refused to provide information on the loans or respond to the allegations against it and its officials.

The bank denied the request for information by the icirnigeria.org written to it since March 17. In the letter addressed to the bank’s Managing Director, the icirnigeria.org asked for details of the Federal Executive Council approval for the scheme, a copy of the Funds Management Agreement signed between the bank and the federal government, documentation on beneficiaries of the scheme, including number, type and total value of vehicles obtained, documentation on all vehicle suppliers including the number, type, cost and date of delivery of the vehicles and a copy of the Standard Bidding Documents issued to all bidders to supply the vehicles.

It also requested the final signed contract award documents, documentation on total money spent on loan revolving scheme, documentation on total loans redeemed and total outstanding and documentation on beneficiaries who have defaulted, including how much is outstanding on each name.

In a reply to the letter dated March 24 signed by Abiodun Daria and Ezinwanyi Ken-Ahia, of the Corporate Legal Department, the bank asked for time to provide the information requested.

“We have noted your request as contained in the letter and we are presently in the process of attending to it. We shall respond to you after the Easter holidays.”

However, when our reporter called Ms Ken-Ahia about two weeks later, she said the bank was waiting for approval from the ministry of finance before replying and providing the information. Asked if the information was domiciled with the ministry, she said it was not but added that since it was the supervisory ministry, the bank had to obtain permission before replying to the request.

But, as at press time, TIB has not provided the information, in flagrant disobedience of the FOI Act.

When our reporter visited the bank’s headquarter offices in the Central Business District in Abuja on Monday, the Administrative Manager, Hamisu Umar, who attended to him said that he could not respond to the questions put to him because they were management issues and advised the reporter to write officially to the bank’s management.

When he was told that an FOI Act request for information had been submitted to the bank for over two months but ignored, Mr. Umar said that a reminder should be written and sent to the bank.

It was gathered that the matter is now being investigated by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), and that many of the key players had been interrogated. No one has, however, been charged to court.

But some of the beneficiaries, including the NURTW and RTEAN, have taken TIB to court for insisting that they repay the loan given to them. They are claiming that the loan was impossible to repay because TIB deliberately supplied them poor quality vehicles and ignored their complaints that the vehicles were not performing.

 

Source: 247nigerianewsupdate.com

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