Prime Business Africa
Interests in Stanbic IBTC Bank’s shares have declined in the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, also known as the stock market, amid allegations of sabotage against the lender by the founder of NORD, Oluwatobi Ajayi.
On November 11, Ajayi alleged that Stanbic IBTC sabotaged his business by advising a client to purchase foreign-made vehicles instead of NORD cars, which the customer had requested to finance through the bank.
Join our WhatsApp Channel“A business owner in the oil and gas sector approached us that he would like to buy two units of the @nordmotion Max pickup for his company. Apparently, he was impressed with the vehicle after some rides with his peers in the sector,” he wrote on X.
“To my shock, yesterday, my team told me that the bank, a bank operating in Nigeria told him that they do not finance Made-in-Nigeria vehicles, and they even suggested to our customer that he should go for foreign brands instead.
“The most provocative part of this is that all of the brands they suggested to him identified as Made-in-Nigeria brands in their filings with the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).
“Which means they decide who they want to be whenever it suits them.
“This is yet another example of the needless sabotage and institutional bias against Nigerian manufacturers and assemblers that we experience in this sector.”
He also revealed he has taken the company to court for allegedly illegally debiting NORD N700 million.
“Many people have told me to name the bank, trust me, I have strong reasons to do so. This particular bank has been a terrible business partner to us at Nord for many years (see attached a mail to their COO in 2022). We cut most ties with them in early 2023, using them only for minor transactions,” Ajayi said.
“Earlier this year, in April, they unilaterally debited 700 million NGN from our account without any court order. We didn’t borrow money from them.
“They claimed that the LC we took in 2022, which was fully paid at the prevailing exchange rate of about 430 to 480 NGN offered to us by the same bank, was no longer valid, and that we now had to pay at over 1,600 NGN, for transactions that we had longed closed and sold the vehicles at prices that reflect the 430 NGN to 480 NGN official exchange rate.”
After pressure from Nigerians on X that Ajayi should name the bank, he wrote, the “bank is @StanbicIBTC”.
The post alleging sabotage has recorded over 760,000 views, while the post naming the bank has garnered over 340,000 views.
Between November 11, when the post was made, and November 18, Stanbic IBTC share value has declined by N7.35 kobo, dropping from N112.35 kobo per share recorded the previous day to N105 as of November 18.
Prime Business Africa gathered that the decline in the company’s share price has resulted in a 6.54 percent drop in shareholders’ investment value, amounting to a N116.87 billion loss for the investors.
Also, Stanbic IBTC’s market valuation has dropped within the period, as the company is now valued at N1.66 trillion, compared to the N1.78 trillion the bank was valued at before Ajayi’s post.
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