Femi Otedola, chair of FBN Holdings and majority owner of Geregu Power, and some of his companies are up in arms against Zenith Bank over a controversial debt involving his former company, Zenon Petroleum & Gas and some other firms in which he has interests.

Mr Otedola is accusing Zenith Bank of perpetrating banking fraud against him and some of his companies. He claims the lender controversially disposed of his shares in the bank, manipulated the company’s bank accounts, and forged documents to cover up the alleged crimes.

The businessman has also triggered litigation and police action against Zenith Bank, with the Force Criminal Investigation Department now probing the matter.

The battle between Mr Otedola and Zenith Bank began after the businessman accused his bankers of dishonest accounting in the computation of his liabilities before selling his multibillion naira debt to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), an agency of the Nigerian Government, buys bad loans in banks’ books, aiming to pursue recovery afterwards.

Reliable sources with knowledge of the matter revealed that the billionaire tycoon turned to the court and the police for a resolution after the dispute became knottier, and efforts to resolve it and other related issues without legal intervention failed.

The technical teams of Zenith Bank and Zenon Oil met on 20 May 2024 to resolve the logjam, but the meeting was inconclusive.

Zenon Oil did not find the deliberations of another meeting held a day after at Lagos Oriental Hotel satisfactory and has threatened to launch a fresh legal action against the bank.

That was the third reconciliation meeting the two parties held this month, none of which has resolved the conflict.

“It is clear that Zenith Bank Plc is not sincere in resolving this issue out of court and as such a time-wasting exercise,” one of our sources said. “At this juncture, we have resolved to pursue our claims via the judiciary, law enforcement, the CBN and the court of public opinion as we know that our claims are very genuine.”

Zenon claimed its letters of credit that deteriorated into the problematic loan acquired by AMCON were opened before the corporation bought the debt in December 2011. Zenon ceased to operate the account the moment the takeover happened.

Zenon claimed Zenith Bank admitted at meetings that it controversially opened letters of credit after AMCON procured the debt, a practice an official of the oil and gas firm described as unprofessional.

A document listed the overdue amount on Zenon’s account at the time of AMCON’s intervention as N39 billion. However, Zenon claims Zenith Bank offered the debt to AMCON for N49 billion instead. After intense negotiations, AMCON paid the bank N44.1 billion for the bad debt.

Sunday Enebeli-Uzor, who heads the bank’s corporate communications unit, did not immediately respond to PREMIUM TIMES’ request for comment.

Neither did Ayoola Kusimo, the team lead for media relations.

But a top bank official had earlier told one of our reporters that since the matter is already in court and before the police, there was no need discussing it in the media.

When contacted, Mr Otedola confirmed his face-off with Zenith Bank over some unclear transactions on his companies’ accounts but declined to provide details. “We are still trying to resolve it,” he said. “If that fails, I can give you details.”

Another document containing the details of a meeting held by both sides on 20 May said Zenith Bank agreed to refund with compounded accrued interest rate the N205 million it wrongly deducted from Zenon’s account using a backdraft.

Seaforce Shipping Company Limited, owned by Mr Otedola, disclosed that Zenith Bank presented some bank statements claiming that Seaforce owed the lender N5.9 billion as of February 2024. The company added that Zenith Bank later abandoned the claim after it showed the bank proof that Seaforce’s account was in credit as of 2018.

I have been reporting for several years now and I am very interested in visual news reportage with strong inclusion of photos and video multimedia.

PalmPay, fintech company, has been awarded the prestigious “Customer Focused Digital Bank of the Year” Award at the Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Awards, organised by the Nigeria Communication Week.

The award ceremony took place in Lagos, celebrating exceptional achievements and contributions in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.

PalmPay’s recognition as the “Customer Focused Digital Bank of the Year” underscores its commitment to delivering exceptional customer service and innovative digital banking solutions. The award highlights PalmPay’s dedication to addressing the financial needs of its customers providing a seamless and user-friendly digital banking experience.

Receiving the award on behalf of PalmPay, Enakeno Umuteme, Head of Marketing and Communication, expressed gratitude and pride in the company’s accomplishments. “We are honored to be recognized as the ‘Customer Focused Digital Bank of the Year’ at this esteemed event. At PalmPay, we have a 24/7 customer service system with a dedicated response team to assist users whenever possible”.

“As an innovative company, we enhance customers’ banking experience through cutting-edge technology and exceptional service.”

The Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Awards, an annual event organized by Nigeria Communication Week, aims to recognize and celebrate outstanding contributions in the ICT sector. The awards bring together industry leaders, innovators, and stakeholders to acknowledge the significant impact of technology on society and the economy.

This award reinforces PalmPay’s position as a leader in the digital banking space, and it serves as a motivation for the company to continue its mission of providing accessible, reliable, and customer-centric financial solutions to individuals and businesses across Africa.

Access Bank through its W initiative is supporting women entrepreneurs in the event industry to tap the industry opportunity and scale their businesses.

Abiodun Olubitan, group head of women banking at Access Bank at a recent roundtable discussion with women entrepreneurs urged event industry practitioners to scale their businesses while seizing opportunities in the sector.

“The event industry is worth $2 billion annually and we need to pay attention to it,” Olubitan said. She noted that the bank is ready to support women entrepreneurs to expand, saying that the bank wants “to associate with them, hear them and support their business to grow, faster than they would do it on their own.”

Speaking also, Gbemisola Ajibulu, team lead, W Initiative, Access Bank disclosed that the bank decided to put the event together to underscore the role of practitioners in the event industry which is primarily dominated by women and their contribution to the economy at large.

“We understand that women play a very important role in the economy generally and the events industry is also a very important sector as well and it is majorly dominated by women,” Ajibulu said.

“We are not just a bank, we also care about businesses and their growth and about women doing business and how they can be equipped both with training and loans – both financially and non-financially at whatever capacity we can help when we need to do so as a bank” she added.

Bolanle Olosunde-Jenrola, chief executive officer of Writer Corporate & Personal Brand Story Architect, trained participants on how they can leverage social media to market their products and grow their client base.

“By putting yourself out there online, you make it possible for someone who is far away and has never heard of you before to patronize your products. So that way, businesses can now scale and increase their customers base,” she explained.

“Marketing online ensures that you can have multiple customers because many people know you,” she noted.

Kemi Awe of Kiversworld Catering and Services, a participant at the event applauded Access Bank for the W initiative and supporting small business operators to scale their businesses.

“Before this event, there were several things that I didn’t know about my business that I was able to learn during the breakout session. I now understand that it is possible to have all my CAC registration done by the bank, this will make my business official and registered,” she said.

“I also enjoyed the social media training session and the tips that were shared to enable me to grow my business online. In all, it was an amazing experience,” she added.