THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday refuted ru­mours making the rounds that some banks in the country may have gone into distress. The speculation followed last Mon­day’s dissolution of the board and management of Skye Bank Plc and appointment of new Chair and GMD to run its af­fairs.

In a swift move to douse the tension created by its action, the apex bank in a press state­ment signed by its acting Di­rector of Corporate Communi­cations, Isaac Okoroafor, reiter­ated in the strongest terms that such speculations are spurious and do not reflect the actual health of the individual banks and, indeed, the entire banking industry.

It said: “For the avoidance of doubt, the infusion of a new board and management for Skye Bank Plc is a proactive reg­ulatory action meant to ensure that the bank does not continue to fail in its relevant prudential ratios. Neither Skye Bank nor any other bank in the industry is in distress. Therefore, the CBN would like to request the general public to ignore specu­lations or rumours to the con­trary as they could only be the handiwork of mischief makers who do not mean well for the Nigerian banking system and economy.”

It noted that as the regulator of the industry, the CBN is reas­suring the banking and general public that their deposits re­main safe in any Nigerian bank. There is, therefore, no need for panic withdrawals from any bank.

He stated that going by both the CBN’s Examination Reports as well as analysis from market watchers, including interna­tional credit rating agencies, and Development Finance In­stitutions, the Nigerian banking industry remains strong despite the global economic challenges emanating from the collapse of global commodity prices.