The Kogi State House of Assembly has threatened to issue a warrant of arrest against the Managing Director of Sterling Bank Plc, Abubakar Suleiman, should he fail to appear before the house on Tuesday next week.
The House had invited bank chief in the last two weeks to clarify issues surrounding the N20billion bailout fund which the bank claimed it would send back to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). But he failed to honour the invitation, according to the Speaker.
Upon resumption of Plenary on Tuesday, the Regional Manager of Sterling Bank, Enejo Ibrahim; and Counsel to the bank, Olukayode Enitan, SAN, were at the Assembly but the Speaker, Prince Matthew Kolawole, insisted that they would not be allowed to speak except they tendered a letter from the Managing Director authorising them to represent him.
The Speaker noted that the House was giving the bank Chief Executive Officer one week to appear before it, noting that any attempt to dishonour the invitation would make the House use every legal means to make him appear. He pointed out that the claim that the State Government fixed the bailout fund in an account with the bank had brought embarrassment to the government and people of Kogi State.
The Speaker said investigations by the House Committee on Public Accounts revealed that the allegations were baseless and untrue, adding that the Assembly would get to the root of the matter.