Afribank Denies 'Cooked' Financial Results

By Eddyson Lugangwa Posted 18 October 2006 @ 09:41 am EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

Lagos (IBTimes.com) - Afribank, yesterday, denied media reports that its accounts were cooked, stating that the accounts under reference were duly verified and certified by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The auditors, Akintola Williams Deloitte, also said the quoted account was a draft account not the audited account.

In a chat with Vanguard, Mr Lanre Alabi, Head, Corporate Affairs, Afribank refuted the allegations of cooked financial results levelled at the bank by its former Managing Director, Mr. Patrick Akinkuotu. He said a reputable Chartered Accounting firm, Akintola Williams Delloite, which audited Afribank's Financial Report & Account for the year, had already debunked the allegations, emphasizing that it audited the financial statements in line with international standards. He said the accounts under reference were duly verified and certified by the CBN, the banking industry apex regulatory authority.

Alabi assured stakeholders that the bank had in the last one year initiated several strategic moves aimed at significantly improving the fundamentals of the bank. He also said the moves already made by the management were capable of delivering on promises of growth, superior returns, globalised operations, and repositioning of the bank for effective competition.

According to him, "the bank's strategic investments in major sectors are geared towards securing bigger market share by directing the flow of patronage to Afribank. The bank recently took over the private sector deposits of Lead Bank and Assurance Bank, which immediately beef up its deposit by N15 billion and its asset base by N4.5 billion. Also, through this strategy, all the 50 branches of the former Lead and Assurance banks are now Afribank branches. This brings total branch network to 218, ranking the bank among the top seven in the industry.

"To grow its presence in the specialised financial services sector, the bank recently established Afribank Capital Markets to handle capital market operations. The establishment of the new subsidiary was to enhance a one-stop financial institution." Afribank's external auditors, Akintola Williams Deloitte, collaborated the bank's position, saying in the course of "an audit, we prepare several draft accounts, one of which is quoted by the petitioner."