FCMB Clarifies Position On N573m Transfer To Pastor’s Account

OMOTAYO ARAOYE

First  City Monument Bank (FCMB), on Wednesday, issued further clarification on the transfer of N573 million into the account of Emmanuel Omale, the founder of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministries.
The Managing Director/CEO of FCMB, Adam Nuru, had last Thursday while appearing before Justice Ayo Salami’s probe panel, blamed the bank’s application for the wrong lodgement. 

“We conducted an investigation and discovered that the lodgement which we reported to NFIU was an error.

“The error was as a result of the fact that we were using a bank application called Pinnacle-7. However, we migrated from that application to a newer version called Pinnacle-10,” Nuru had told the panel.

The bank, however, in a statement on Wednesday, said there was no transfer of  N573m into Omale’s account, mistakenly or otherwise.
The bank’s statement reads: “Our attention has been drawn to widely circulating stories incorrectly stating that our Managing Director, during a recent presidential hearing in Abuja, testified that the bank mistakenly transferred N573m to the account of a church and the said error was not discovered for 4 years. 

“We feel it is in the public interest to state emphatically that there was no transfer of  N573m into this account, mistakenly or otherwise.
“To provide further clarity, during a maintenance upgrade of our systems in 2016, a defective file led to the aggregation of multiple unrelated entries into a single balance under the affected customer’s name in one of our reports. 

“This aggregation occurred only in the weekly automated report to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit. It had no effect on any customer account balance or statements and therefore was not immediately identified. 

“Our Managing Director clarified to the Presidential panel that the system generated report was incorrect and that there was no mistaken transfer of N573 million. 

“He also submitted comprehensive documentary evidence to this effect.
“We appreciate that comments may have been misconstrued and therefore believe it is important to emphatically clarify the position that there was no mistaken transfer whatsoever, as stated above. 

“FCMB continues to fully cooperate with the panel, and has been entirely transparent in its reporting. We remain committed to ethical and professional conduct at all times.”