EXCLUSIVE: DIGGING THE PAST: THE UNDECLARED COMPANIES OWNED BY UNION BANK EXECUTIVES TO EFCC

Secret Reporters

According to the Bank Employees, ETC (Declaration of Assets) Act 1986, bankers should declare their assets through the appropriate authority like the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. But the forms were hardly ever scrutinized, a trend which the EFCC seeks to change.

While section 1 of the Act states, “Every employee of a bank shall, within fourteen days of the commencement of this Act, make full disclosure of all his assets. and “In the case of a new employee, he shall within 14 days of assuming duty with the bank make a full disclosure of all his assets at the time of his assuming duty; and for the purpose of this subsection, a transfer or secondment from one bank to another shall be treated as a new employment”, section 2 of the Act reads, “The full disclosure of assets required under Section 1 of this Act shall be made in the manner prescribed in the Declaration of Assets Form contained in Form A of the Schedule to this Act and shall be executed before and attested to by the Registrar of a High Court, the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court.“The President or the appropriate authority may from time to time prescribe such other forms as may be necessary to achieve the purpose and intendment of this Act.”

The Act in section 5 however outlines that the Chief Executive of every bank which includes the chairman, the managing director, or other similar officers of a bank, with no exemption to the Central Bank of Nigeria. “shall twice in every year, but no later than 7 January, or 7 July, as the case may be, submit to the appropriate authority a list of all employees who joined or left the employment of the bank in the immediately preceding six months expiring respectively on 31 December of the previous year and 30 June of that year respectively.”

In a series of investigations carried out by SecretReporters to determine bank executives who own companies but refused to declare them in their assets declaration form as stipulated by law, discoveries of some top bank decision-makers of first-tier Nigerian financial institutions were made.

Riding high on the list are the white stallions, Union Bank, whose executives never shy away from breaking rules.

Lola Cardoso: appointed as Executive Director and Head, Retail and Digital Banking in March 2020, and dubbed the female pillar of the bank, Mrs Cardoso we learned, have been running two companies with her name still registered as a director.

One of such companies, Millsibut Limited, floated on 28th July 2011 with RC Number 968759, has her name and five others as its directors.

In an adventurous move, she alongside Sola Cardoso also registered The Adventures of Felix and Flavia Limited with RC number 1165995 on 23rd January 2014 with a registered office address at No 19, Ojulari Street, Ikate Elegushi Lekki, Lagos.

Multiple sources who spoke to this online news medium, disclosed that she may also be a shareholder in Julius Berger Nigeria Plc as her UBN account number 0039569612 was credited by the construction giant. In her banking details, her name is seen as Cardoso Omolola and not Lola that she’s widely known with.

Joseph Chiedu Mbulu: an Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of the bank appointed in March 2020 has been running Mopfraggle Limited which he registered on 13th June 2011 alongside Akinlabi Ajelabi and Olatunji Oke with RC Number 949166.

Before registering Mopfraggle Limited, investigations revealed that he had registered Accent Business Consulting Limited alongside Adenike Mbulu and Kunle Awolowo on 14th June 2010 with RC Number 892558. A source also disclosed that he purchased properties from Femab Property Limited which he paid for through his Ecobank account number 031000919.

Tetem Feyi-Waboso Noel: A Union Bank recruit in 2016 and now elevated to a board position where he holds the exalted position of Chief Operations and Technology Officer.

While holding the post, Tetem according to our findings, had already floated Alinnutetem Limited on October 27th, 2015 with RC number 1295623. The company which has No 1, De Feyi Avenue, Azumini Ndoki Ukwa-East as its address is owned alongside two members of his immediate family; Pamela Feyi-Waboso and Uchechi Feyi-Waboso.

Ogochukwu Ekezie-Ekaidem: While holding the position of Chief Brand and Marketing Officer, she managed the affairs of Elcosek Merchandiser Nigeria Limited with RC number 984978, alongside her husband, Mr. Cosmas Ekezie.

Records also showed that another company, Tetba consult limited with RC number 1090417 and a registered address of No 7, Abiodun Ikomi Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos State was floated on the 15th of January 2013, by Mrs. Ogochukwu.

It is not, however, unclear why this female amazon of the bank did not reveal to her employees and colleagues the dangers of not disclosing companies/assets owned by them as their chief brand promoter, fully aware that such infractions might surface to hunt the bank’s image in future. The CAC gave her