We’ll comply with court verdict on unpaid dividends, Zenith Bank official replies Aquitane Oil

Zenith Bank says it will comply with the verdict of the court on the issue of unpaid dividends allegations made by Aquitane Oil and Gas Limited.

Chinedu Zeph, deputy general manager at Zenith Bank, spoke to TheCable on Tuesday.

BACKGROUND

On November 7, Aquitane Oil and Gas Limited petitioned Kayode Egbetokun, inspector-general of police (IGP), over the “falsification” of the company’s account statement by Zenith Bank to “conceal” the lender’s failure to pay its dividends.

In the petition dated October 11, 2024 — through Lukman O. Fagbemi & Co., its legal counsel — Aquitane Oil called on the IGP to investigate Zenith Bank for attempting to “conceal the illegalities committed” as it relates to the company’s shares held in the financial firm.

Aquitane Oil said it purchased 10,775,399 shares and 17,425,300 shares in Zenith Bank through its subsidiaries, Southern Grace Investment Ltd and Globular Trading Investment Services Ltd, respectively, in 2008 when the financial institution held its initial public offering (IPO).

The oil company said in 2020, Southern Grace and Globular Trading realised the dividends for their shares had not been paid by Zenith Bank since 2008.

Aquitane Oil accused the bank of refusing to pay over N1.4 billion dividends accrued from 10,775,299 and 17,425,300 shares units belonging to its affiliate firms.

The oil firm had said the bank is yet to resolve allegations bordering on forgery of the statement of account belonging to Aquitane Oil and Gas Limited two weeks after police commenced an investigation into the matter.

Also, the company said senior officials like the chief compliance officer and the account officer handling the accounts of Zenith Bank, who were invited for questioning at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, have refused to honour police invitation over the ongoing probe.

ZENITH’S DEFENCE

In defence of the financial institution, Zenith Bank’s deputy general manager told TheCable that the matter is already in court.

According to Zeph, the police had invited the bank’s official for questioning after the matter had gone to court.

He said since the matter was already in court, it is ideal that both parties await judgment.

“This is a person who was owing the bank, and then he used the money to buy shares and was enjoying dividends in another name,” he said.

“The law set off in Nigeria says when you owe a bank, anywhere you have money in this country can be applied to clear your loan. If he’s not happy with it, we’re already in court.”

Zeph, however, said although several versions of the story are in the media, he would advise that the judgement of the court be awaited “rather than taking sides or giving malicious reports”.