The Economic and Finanacial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has reportedly arrested and detained the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, in charge of Financial System Stability, Aisha Ahmad.
Reports just reaching our news desk say the Department of State Services, DSS, is grilling Ms Ahmad over an alleged fraudulent acquisition of shares in Polaris Bank, Titan Bank/Union Bank, including how the sum of $300million to complete the acquisition of the Union Bank was raised by the Titan Bank.
Recall that Ms Ahmad was in September 2023 invited and interrogated by the Special investigator appointed by the President, Bola Tinubu, to inspect the books of the apex bank, following the arrests and detention of the former CBN boss, Mr Godwin Emefiele.
All deputy governors of the CBN along with Ahmad were then interviewed one after the other as the investigators scrutinized the bank’s books under Emefiele.
Reports have it then that the deputy governors were asked to confirm their knowledge of a number of decisions taken by the apex bank in the last eight years.
The CBN had on Wednesday announced the dissolution of the board of management of Polaris, Union and Keystone Banks, appointing new directors in their stead.
Aishah Ahmad was appointed Deputy Governor at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the 23rd March, 2018. As Deputy Governor in charge of Financial System Stability, she is responsible for leading the effort to promote a sound financial system in Nigeria; one of the principal objects of the Bank as specified within the CBN Act. In this role, Aishah is a member of the Governing Board and Committee of Governors at the CBN and Chairman, Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) – a not for profit organization offering training, consulting and research services for the financial services sector.
Prior to her appointment at the CBN, Aishah was Executive Director, Retail Banking at Diamond Bank PLC, with over 22 years experience as a corporate executive and finance expert. Her banking and investment career spans several financial institutions including NAL Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc (a member of Standard Bank Group, SA) amongst others.