New revelations have come to light indicating that James Ibori, the notorious former governor of Delta State who has been indicted for corruption, is behind the near-collapse of two banks -- Oceanic and InterContinetal banks - whose managements were dissolved last week by the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN). Ibori is Nigeria's most powerful political operative, who has now emerged also as its biggest economic menace.
According to sources at the Central Bank of Nigeria, he is owing InterContinental bank N40 billion. The debt, which Ibori secured through his buy-over of Willbros Nigeria Limited, led the bank to fail substantially, leading to the CBN removal of its CEO, Erasus Akingbola.
The Ibori saga in the banking sector is threatening Lamido Sanusi's bank reforms, according to reliable sources. Ibori, Saharareporters learnt, has reached out to his friend and partner -in-crime, federal Attorney-General, Michael Aondoakaa, to get a court injunction indefinitely restraining the CBN from further auditing the banks. The source also disclosed that Mrs. Cecilia Ibru is also working on a similar lawsuit in a desperate effort to regain her management of Oceanic bank.
Ibori borrowed $200 million dollars from InterContinental bank to finance the take-over of oil services company Wilbross Nigeria Limited from Willbros Group Inc. That followed its closure of its Nigerian operations in 2007, after the US justice department fined it heavily over a $6 million bribery scandal which implicated Willbros officials as well as a sleuth of Nigerian politicians. Ibori bought over the 46-year old company using Ascot offshore Nigeria Limited, a front company run by his pal, Henry Imashekka and former classmate, Joe Obue (at whose wedding, Ibori met his only son's mother, Uju Ononiba). As collateral, Ibori placed Delta State Celtel shares with the bank, but InterContinental was badly exposed when the Delta State government reportedly cashed out on substantial part of the shares from the bank when they became cash-strapped. InterContinental went to court and obtained a receivership of Willbros, but Ibori prevailed on former CBN governor, Charles Soludo ,to provide InterContinental bank with soft loans to cover up the exposure.
Our sources said, Ibori had promised Mr. Akingbola that he will prevail on Yar'adua to stop Sanusi from sacking InterContinetal bank management last week, but Sanusi acted faster than he'd expected.
Ibori also took close to $200 million loans from Oceanic bank PLC to finance the take over of Nigeria's premier fertilizer company-National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria (NAFCON), using O-secul Nig. Ltd., a company owned by Mike Orugbo with an unsecured loan which is now run as NOTORE chemicals by Ibori's frontman, Najite Okoloko. Ibori recently bought a jet using Notore Chemical as a front. That loan is also a non-performing loan that constitutes a huge hole in Oceanic bank's bad assets, but our source said Yar'Adua has already given Ibori's Notore huge fertilizers contracts to take care of his non-performing loans at Oceanic.
Ibori cut short a family vacation and abruptly returned from South Africa last week to confront the CBN governor. "Ibori is fully working with Aondoakkaa and Cecilia Ibru to stop Sanusi at all cost in the next few days," a source told Saharareporters in Abuja.
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