Immediate past Minister of State for Works, Prince Dayo Adeyeye has
threatened to institute legal action against Unity Bank Plc for
publishing his name as a debtor to the bank. He declared that he did
not owe any bank both in Nigeria and anywhere in the world.
Adeyeye, who responded to report in some newspapers today that he was
among those indebted to Unity Bank Plc, said he was only nominated as
a nominal director by the owner of International Payment Devices
Limited, Senator Ayo Arise.
He blamed the banks for the non-performing loans, questioning why they
could grant loans to their clients without taking adequate
collaterals.
The statement read; “Truly, a friend of mine, Senator Ayo Arise, owner
of International Payment Devices Limited, included my name as one of
the directors just to satisfy the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)
requirements.
“I have never been part of the operations of the company since it was
incorporated. I have never shared any dividend from the company or
carried out any function on behalf of the company.
“Most importantly, I was never involved in any transaction between the
company and Unity Bank Plc and the bank never informed me that I was
involved in any transaction on behalf of any company.
“The company also did not inform me that it had any financial
obligation or transaction with Unity Bank Plc or any financial
institution until I saw the publication in the newspapers today.
“In the whole world, neither me nor any company that I have interest
in owes any bank or financial institution.
“Besides, it is wrong for any bank to publish names of customers with
which it transact business in newspapers when the court had not
adjudicated and ascertain whether or not the customer actually owed
the bank.
“As a lawyer myself, I know that it is only a competent court of law
that can say whether or not any individual or organisation is a debtor
and it is unethical for a bank to publish names of its clients and
categorise them as debtors when it should have simply taken over the
collaterals used to secure the loan.
“Or is Unity Bank Plc saying that it did not take any collateral
before granting loans as much as N45.52b to the 260 debtors it
released to the press?
“Is it the fault of their clients that they failed to follow due
process in granting loans? If they had followed due process by making
sure that they take collaterals before granting loans, what they
should have done was to take over the properties used as collaterals
for the loans instead of exposing their own incompetence by publishing
names of debtors in newspapers.
“I have therefore instructed my lawyer to institute legal action
against Unity Bank Plc with a view to getting them to pay damages.”
