Savannah: Nwobodo bounces back

A patient dog eats the fattest bone. This Igbo adage aptly applies to Senator Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo, former governor of old Anambra state, whose Savannah Bank Plc was recently ordered reopened by the appeal court. The ruling included that the bank should be given 18 months period to recapitalize. (Pics show Nwobodo (left) and Idris Kutigi, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN)(right)

The appellate court affirmed that the bank’s closure by the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, using the instrumentality of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was illegal and of no effect. The court, also, sanctioned the CBN for illegally closing down Apex Bank.

KlinReports recalls that Obasanjo had, during his first term in office as Nigeria’s president on February 15, 2002, willfully presided over the shutting down of Nwobodo’s ‘healthy’ Savannah Bank. The reason for Obasanjo’s action against the bank was not only ridiculous but ludicrous.

The then Governor of Enugu state, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani (now senator), parted ways with Senator Nwobodo, his political god father. Nwobodo moved into the state from his Abuja national assembly base to teach his ‘pesky’ god son some bitter political lessons. He thus deployed the state legislature to boot Nnamani out of office through impeachment.

Most unfortunately, this rift dragged on to a period draconian President Obasanjo had an axe to personally grind with Nwobodo. Nwobodo, it would be recalled, had served as the coordinator of Obasanjo’s presidential campaigns between 1998 and 1999, and Obasanjo, even after his victory, reportedly felt that Nwobodo ‘messed up’ his campaign funds. Besides, Nwobodo’s political profile was upbeat, and Obasanjo would never condone such prominence, as it could threaten his second term ambition.

And to justify his fears, Nwobodo actually hotly contested the 2003 presidential election on the platform of United Nigeria People’s Party (UNPP) after he and some others were stampeded out of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

So, Obasanjo exploited the rift to take his pound of flesh on Nwobodo. It was at this point that he ordered Nwobodo’s Savannah Bank shut down on an adduced flimsy reason of insolvency. The object of the closure was, more importantly, to economically weaken Nwobodo, bearing in mind that he was to contest the 2003 presidency with him. In addition, Obasanjo sufficiently empowered Nnamani to take on Nwobodo in their political battle. Eventually, Nwobodo was overwhelmed, and literally run out of his Enugu state home up until the end of Nnamani regime.

It must be pointed out, at this juncture, that Savannah Bank’s closure, among other things, sent many Nigerians to their early graves, as, in the words of Chief Victor Umeh, national chairman of All People’s Grand Alliance (APGA), “they (depositors) lost all their deposits with the bank and the credit balances they had in their accounts upon the unsuspecting move against the bank, which by all implications appeared healthy before the Obasanjo assault”. Umeh adds that the closure of the bank was another wicked attempt by Obasanjo to punish the Igbos and attack their business interests in Nigeria.

But above all this, Nwobodo followed his travails with patience and perseverance. The former governor never gave in to despair, and he waited, hoping that injustice has a very short life span. Nwobodo trudged on in his quest for justice right from the lower to appeal court. Nwobodo believed in the aphorism that ‘Nothing lasts forever; sooner or later, the end to every beginning is reached’. And the end to the beginning of seven years of untold hardship and agony of Nwobodo, the board, management and staff of Savannah Bank came with the appellate court’s ‘Daniel’s judgment’. Nwobodo’s bank will, by the grace of God, bounce back to life.

KlinReports is, however, appalled that, rather than implement the court verdict and encourage the bank to successfully recapitalize and get back to business in the interest of its teeming impoverished customers, Central Bank of Nigeria is, at the moment, said to be contemplating contesting the decision at the Supreme Court. This is even against the backdrop of the obvious fact that the bank was unjustly shut down (out of malice) because it did not show any sign of distress before the closure.

This verdict restoring Savannah Bank’s license was a landmark one indeed, and KlinReports appeals to CBN to take it (the judgment) in good faith and allow Savannah Bank to open shop. Such a contemplated appeal will only worsen the already aggravated situation of the banks anguished customers and staff.

At least, for posterity sake!