The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria.(CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has been revealed as the alleged owner of controversial Titan Trust Bank (TTB), which acquired Union Bank.
The revelation was made Thursday by ENigeria Newspaper.
Titan Trust Bank, is a relatively a new banking brand with only two active offices in Lagos, as at the time is acquired Union Bank Plc.
The sudden rise of TTB to the point of acquiring Union Bank Plc, a massive banking brand with a whopping significantly large asset size of about $4.9 billion (N2.59 trillion) according to its FY 2021 audited financial statements, remains a mystery and an algebra without mathematical solution.
Union Bank disclosed the anticipated transaction in a corporate disclosure filed with the Nigerian Exchange on December 23rd, 2021, after its Intra-African Investment Financing Facility.
But from all calculations, it appears as if all the companies involved in the acquisition have not exactly disclosed how much it had actually cost Titan Trust to acquire Union Bank.
As earlier pointed out earlier, Union Bank had a total asset value of $4.9 billion as of December 2021.
So, even with the $300 million from Afreximbank, a lot more money would have still been needed to facilitate the deal. And it’s most likely that Titan Trust secured funding from other sources besides Afreximbank which it deliberately refused to mention.
It was gathered that among a number of other factors corroborates public opinion that obviously Titan Trust Bank is favoured by an influential individual or persons whose vested interest is covertly hinged to the success of the bank.
The fact that Titan Trust Bank’s National Banking License is the first National Banking License that the Central Bank of Nigeria has granted in the last ten years since former Central Bank Governor Chukwuma Soludo enacted the N25 billion capitalization funds directive for National banks in Nigeria, is one of such factors that also warrants further investigation.