CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele – the owner of Titan Trust Bank

Godwin Emefiele has been revealed as the alleged owner of the controversial Titan Trust Bank (TTB) which acquired Union Bank Plc, ENigeria Newspaper reports.

(This report was exclusively reported by ENigeria Newspaper in 2022, after which our Editor was arrested by men of the Nigeria Police Force in Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos on the order of Adaeze Udenzi the then acting Managing Director of Titan Trust Bank, in a frantic effort to silence the report).

Titan Trust Bank, or TTB, is a relatively new banking brand with only two active offices in Lagos, Nigeria’s metropolis as at the time it acquired Union Bank Plc.

Agreeably, miracles still happen in this ‘wonderful’ part of the world, however, it is also a fact that Titan Trust Bank’s sudden rise to stardom after 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 main investors decided to sell their 93.41 percent holdings.

Titan Trust Bank is barely three years old, more so, the bank is just finding its feet in the highly competitive Nigerian banking industry. As such, some people wondered where it possibly sourced the funds to facilitate the planned acquisition, while others keenly waited to see whether the acquisition could come to fruition, but no doubt, however, experts who spoke to ENigeria News disclosed that “while certain key indices remain shrouded in secrecy, the clandestine manner in which the acquisition was carried out appears to be a ticking time bomb waiting to explode”.

Consequently, on June 6, 2022, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) announced that it had disbursed the sum of $300 million to help complement the total amount needed by Titan Trust Bank to finalize the acquisition of Union Bank. Afreximbank noted that the said fund was disbursed under its Intra-African Investment Financing Facility.

But from all calculations, it appears that all the companies involved in the acquisition have not exactly disclosed how much it had cost Titan Trust to acquire Union Bank. As we 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 would still be needed to facilitate the deal. Also, it is most likely that Titan Trust secured funding from other sources besides Afreximbank which it deliberately refused to mention.

The above analysis given by ENigeria News among several other factors corroborates public opinion suggesting that Titan Trust Bank is favoured by an influential individual, group, 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 (CBN) under Godwin Emefiele was granted in the last ten years since the era of Chukwuma Soludo in the apex bank enacted the N25 billion capitalization funds directive for National banks in Nigeria, is one of such factors that also warrants further investigation.

Who Owns Titan Trust Bank?

The above is a question most netizens and Nigerians in general including those in the banking industry have been asking since Titan Trust Bank miraculously acquired Union Bank.

However, according to an ongoing investigation by ENigeria Newspaper, current Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele is the alleged owner of Titan Trust Bank which he is said to have acquired through his cronies and proxies.

Also, there are strong indications that the CBN Governor who is also allegedly among the highest shareholders in Union Bank Plc may have played a major role in the acquisition of the bank’s shares by TTB.

Titan Trust Bank – TTB is reportedly majority-owned by Tropical General Investment (TGI) Group, an investment firm allegedly linked to Godwin Emefiele with interests in a variety of businesses including FMCG, commodities, agriculture, Agric processing, pharmaceuticals, and oil field services, as well as real estate and trading.

According to reports, CHI Limited, the creator of the iconic Chivita products, was one of TGI’s most notable enterprises, which was finally sold to Coca-Cola in 2019.

Titan Trust Bank: Other compelling factors and unanswered questions raised by pundits:

Union Bank was stabilized and recapitalized thanks to an N300 billion injection by FGN. This position can be confirmed by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

AMCON injected another N239 billion into the bank to purchase out the bank’s bad assets.
How did FGN end up with 21% of the bank and Union Global Partners (a foreign investment entity) with 64% when it only invested N78 billion ($500 million At N155/$) in 2011?
The Bank was eventually sold for a fraction of its original value.

Is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASS) aware of these concerns?
During the deal, Tunde Lemo was the CBN’s vice governor. Is he allowed to be linked with the acquisition of this same intervening Bank as a benefactor under corporate governance provisions?

In 2011, Union Bank was a group of seven firms, but it has since been reduced to only one commercial bank.

Without recourse to the FGN, an entity

Where did all of the subsidiaries and/or other assets go?

Who got what claim and on what conditions/approvals?

Faruk Gumel is the current Chairman of the National Security Agency (NSIA), a government agency, as well as a Group Executive Director with TGI, the majority stakeholder in Titan Bank, the new owner of Union Bank. Is this a transaction that falls under the definition of “arm’s length” as defined by Nigerian corporate governance?

Perhaps the President and Commander in Chief, as well as the NASS leadership, should raise these and other questions. The answers should come from the CBN, AMCON, the Federal Ministry of Finance, and Mr. Emeka Emuwa, the former Managing Director of Union Bank.
Clearly, the fact that Titan Trust Bank, a small bank with only two bank branches in Lagos, can almost effortlessly swallow up Union Bank, a 104-year-old bank, in a transaction valued in the region of $1 billion dollars or above, defies common sense and suggests a case of “the hand of Esau, but the voice of Jacob.”

Only Two weeks ago, it was announced that Atlas Mara and other core investors in Union had successfully finalized their proposed sale of 93.41% stake.

Following the acquisition, Titan Trust Bank quickly took over the 105-year-old bank, appointed new board members, and replaced some top executives. And some people were interested in knowing how the 3-year-old bank pulled it off. Where did it get the money? Many had asked.

According to information available to ENigeria Newspaper, Emefiele who had reportedly perfected the groundwork for Titan Trust Bank’s acquisition of Union Bank, also allegedly left it in the waiting hands of one of his most trusted allies, Adaeze Udensi, who is the Acting Managing Director of the bank as at the time of filing this report.

“Adaeze is positioned as the face of TTB for a reason. She was there from inception in 2019 and she has been a tool in the hand of Emefiele even right from her days at Zenith Bank”, our source said.

About Adaeze Udensi

ENigeria Newspaper understands that Adaeze Udensi was the only Executive Director of Titan Trust Bank and wielded so much influence; more than the former Managing Director, Mudassir Amray, who stepped aside after the complete acquisition of Union Bank days back.

ENigeria Newspaper can confirm that Adaeze Udensi is the current Acting Managing Director of Titan Trust Bank as of the time of filing this report, and some insiders said that they were not surprised, “after all, that was the grand plan from the start,” the source said.
Emefiele’s camp has continued to deny his participation with Titan Trust, but their evasive denial without adequate explanation is reminiscent of a similar situation that occurred when the CBN Governor’s desire to run for President in 2023 was exposed by ENigeria Newspaper months back.

Even though all the evidence pointed to the veracity of our report, the CBN governor continued to dispute the news.
It wasn’t any different this time. When ENigeria Newspaper called him for a comment, CBN spokeswoman Osita Nnwasinobi, as expected, denied Emefiele’s involvement with TTB and quickly hung up to prevent further questions.

 

ADENDUM: As stated above, this report was first published by ENigeria News in 2022.  Consequently, in light of recent discovery by Jim Obazee, special investigator appointed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in July 2023, to probe the activities of the CBN and other relevant establishments, his published reports further gave credence to our investigation which was initially suppressed by powerful forces. Per Obazee’s recommendation, the board of Titan Trust Bank and other affected banks have been fired, and a new board appointed by the CBN.

Source: ENigeria News