Fayose’s Ban on select Banks Justifiably Voided by Gov (Dr.) John Kayode Fayemi Led Administration
Gov. Kayode Fayemi has lifted the embargo placed on some banks by the previous administration. This decision was taken after@ekitistategov carefully reviewed the developments that led to the purportedembargo by Fmr. @GovAyoFayose.
The @GovAyoFayose-led administration had in May 2016 placeda “non-patronage” ban on three banks- @Ecobank_nigeria, @Gtbank and @ZenithBankPlc and forbade government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as workers from transacting business with them.
Gov. Fayemi in quashing the directive on the embargo,earlier in the month, also directed that all MDAs should resume patronage of all the banks immediately.
The embargo was lifted in a bid to rekindle & strengthen the age-long relationship between the affected banks & the state govt
The Fayemi administration is committed to the infrastructural & industrial development of the state. In achieving this,it will create a conducive atmosphere for business to thrive in the state by partnering with the private sector & encouraging private initiatives, among others.
Prolog to the Fayose bank Fight:
Re: Fayose Closes Ecobanks And GTBanks In Ado-Ekiti by uniteam: 5:07pm On May 25, 2016
Facts have emerged over why Governor Ayodele Fayose is up in arms against Ecobank in Ekiti State.
Fighting from two flanks, Fayose launched his battle first against the bank over its refusal to meet Fayose’s outrageous demand of N1billion in bribe as his share from the N5b loan granted former Governor Kayode Fayemi’s administration, but instead the bank insisted to offer support for the state government infrastructure development by way of corporate social responsibility, which Fayose declined.
The Monitors authoritatively gathered that Fayose’s anger against Ecobank dated back to 2014 when he emerged as Governor-elect. When Fayose discovered that Ecobank loaned the Fayemi administration N5 billion in early 2014 for the completion of some legacy projects, such as the New Government House, the Oba Adejugbe General Hospital and the Pavilion, among others, Fayose was furious because he concluded, though wrongly, that Ecobank gave Fayemi’s government the loan to prosecute that year’s June gubernatorial election.
When Fayose was sworn in on October 2014, he bared his fangs on Ecobank by ordering the withdrawal of a huge government fund to the tune of N800 million at a go!
The management of the bank sought audience with the Governor and pleaded with him not to run them out of business in the state.
Fayose listened to them and gave them a condition that the bank must be ready to part with huge sums of money, which Fayose said was for the development of the state but which in actual fact was a bribe that would end up in his pocket. The bank offered to part with some funds running into hundreds of millions of naira for the development of the state in line with their corporate governance policy but Fayose rejected this offer and insisted the bank must part with N1 billion before he would allow them a breathing space in the state. The bank felt scandalised by this ridiculous demand by the governor.
Fayose’s another angst against the bank emerged when the governor levied all banks in the business district along the state secretariat on Bank Road in the state capital to pay development levy of N5milion each to repair Secretariat Road.
Ecobank and many other banks in the state refused to part with the money but Fayose singled out Ecobank and GTB for punishment by removing the culverts at the entrances to their premises so that no customer can drive into the banks.
The funds that Fayose forced the banks to cough out had been spent by him to do a shoddy job on the Bank Road, which he commissioned in its rough state recently with eight visiting governors in attendance.
Not done, Fayose brought his hammer on Ecobank by issuing a directive for all MDAs, civil servants and pensioners to close down their salary accounts with the bank while all government officials are forbidden from transacting business with the bank. We reliably gathered that Ecobank has weighed its options and chosen to let Fayose be for the next two years.
The implication of this is that the bank may be forced to close down all its branches in Ekiti State and lay off its over 100 staff who are Ekiti indigenes. The governor by his action is ready to throw over 100 Ekiti families into the labour market just because the bank refused to satisfy his insatiable appetite for primitive accumulation of wealth. ‘Ore Mekunu’ indeed!
For the pensioners and other respected senior citizens, they will now be made to go through the rigours of opening new bank accounts again when they should be at home enjoying their well-deserved rest after serving the state meritoriously.
Most of the individual pensioners accounts are jointly run by them and their children due to illnesses associated with old age( because they can’t come to the bank again for transactions personally), and the self-acclaimed Governor of the people now wants to make these respected aged people suffer by withholding their pensions if they refuse to obey his directive.
