Magu probe: FCMB denies sending N573m to Prophet Omale

First City Monument Bank (FCMB) says there was no transfer of N573 million into the account of Emmanuel Omale, general overseer of Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministries International.

Adam Nuru, managing director of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), was invited by the presidential investigation commission of inquiry last Thursday, following an allegation that Omale had received N573 million to purchase a property in Dubai for Ibrahim Magu, suspended chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Magu is currently being investigated by the committee headed by Ayo Salami, former president of the appeal court, for allegedly mismanaging loot recovered by the anti-graft agency.

Testifying before the panel, Nuru had said there was an error on the alleged money credited to Omale.

In a statement on Wednesday, FCMB clarified that there was a system error that affected Omale’s account but no transfer was made.

“Our attention has been drawn to widely circulating stories incorrectly stating that our MD, 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,” the statement read.

“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 (Omale) in one of our reports.

“This aggregation occurred only in the weekly automated report to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

“It had no effect on any customer account balance or statements and therefore was not immediately identified.

“Our MD 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 a 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.”

FCMB maintained that it would continue to fully cooperate with the presidential panel, adding that it has been entirely transparent in its dealings and remains committed to ethical and professional conduct.