Lawyers have poured cold water on the policy of banks which began naming and shaming debtors on August 3 to press them to pay up.
Some prominent Nigerians listed have denied incurring debts ascribed to them, stirring controversy whether the banks did due diligence before granting such loans.
Protests have come from former House of Representatives member, Abike Dabiri-Erewa; and former Minister of State for Works, Dayo Adeyeye; who linked his friend, former Senator Ayo Arise.
“Shocked to see my pic (picture) in Punch. Said to owe 100m (N100 million) linked to some co. (company).
“I owe no one, not even myself…. Must be mistaken identity. Also writing Diamond bank and CBN to set the records straight,” Dabiri-Erewa said in a tweet:
Adeyeye recounted that his only relationship with International Payment Devices Limited, one of the debtors, was his nomination by his friend, Arise, as a nominal director of the company.
“Truly, a friend of mine, 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,” Adeyeye explained in a statement.
“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, and the bank never informed me that I was involved in any transaction on behalf of any company.”
A lawyer based in Kaduna, Abdulazeez Ibrahim, criticised the banks failing to follow the procedure for debt recovery.
“Have you taken time to go through the list? Most of the loans were overdraft. And most of the persons are not aware because the banks have not informed them,” he said.
He also queried why banks allowed such loans to linger for six years, saying the status of limitation (the period when no legal action can be taken) has cut up with the banks.
According to him, only the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) is not bound by the status of limitation, but the NDIC can only act when a bank has been declared bankrupt or is in receivership.
Former Ikeja branch Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani, said naming and shaming debtors seems to have no focus.
“I don’t know what must have led to the exposure of debtors. I know that before a bank can give you loan, it does risk assessment, and the loan is secure. But it looks like these loans are unsecure, and so the debts are toxic.
“What is the effect of the publication? After that what do you do? How will you recover the debts?” he wondered.
