Tension In Heritage Bank As Head Of IT Diverts N49Billion Into Separate Accounts & Disappear 

Heritage Bank Plc has announced the appointment of Akinola George-Taylor as its new acting Managing Director. This follows the approval of its Board of Directors and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Heritage Bank, led by Akinola George-Taylor, one of Nigeria’s lending establishments, is once more engulfed in the severe crisis shaking it to its very roots.

New information from informed sources at the bank indicates that Heritage Bank appears to have seen better days as this is as ENigeria Newspaper reports that among the catalog of issues currently hanging around the lender’s neck as the proverbial hangman’s noose includes a serious boardroom crisis which has seen the edging out of allies of its former Managing Director and Chief Executive, Ifie Sekibo from the board of the moribund bank.

Further investigations by this newspaper revealed that apart from the issues of “Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) and the Liquidity Ratio (LR), the commercial bank is also grappling with many other crises that tend to threaten its survival. One is its poor service that stares its customers in the face. Already, most of the bank’s branches are awash with complaints of unsatisfied customers whose singsong is their plans to close their accounts due to the long hours they experience to get services from Heritage Bank staff.

There are also strong indications that the lender on life support is only an inch away from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Harmer.

You would recall that months ago, ENigeria Newspaper reported that Ifie Sekibo, a banking legend and boardroom guru who was the bank’s founder, bowed out upon the expiration of his tenure in line with the directive outlined by the apex bank.

This Newspaper exclusively reports that since his exit, things have reportedly further degenerated on the watch of the new helmsman, Akinola George-Taylor, who is said to have allegedly connived with other board members to frustrate his predecessor’s loyalists.

Even though George Taylor is faced with the huge challenge of reviving the fortunes of the ailing bank and driving growth, sources say he has instead allegedly instigated multiple internal crises to rid the bank of those suspected to be loyalists of some board members and employ his people.