Looting Cabal Strikes As Ken Ofori-Atta’s “Collapse and Capture” Tactics Drives Final Nail In NIB Coffin

A chronic expedition to mortgage state-owned National Investment Bank (NIB) to cronies of the Akufo Addo administration, has crystallised into a cocktail that would render 850 more people jobless and escalate the casualties of the failed banking sector clean-up embarked upon by the Akufo Addo/Bawumia government.

The kingpin of the corny banking sector clean-up is Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta who reported personal interest overshadowed the narrative used to justify the clean-up that has inexplicably collapsed buoyant banks and worsened the plight of the financial sector.

According to reliable reports, once more, Ken Ofori Atta is pulling another racket where he intends to merge NIB with the Agric Development Bank (ADB) where he recently transferred his biological sister, Eno Ofori-Atta as a Deputy Managing Director.

This textbook modus operandi has played out in several strategic state assets that have reportedly been captured by the close relatives of President Akufo Addo, including Ken Ofori-Atta, his nephew.

An SOS by the staff of the NIB intercepted by the Whatsup News has confirmed that the government is opting to liquidate the bank instead of finding means to inject a Ghc2.2 billion cedis the bank needs for its revival.

“Our earnest plea comes on the backdrop of recent news, information and intelligence gathered suggesting a possible liquidation of National Investment Bank (NIB) Limited”.

Ranking Member of Parliament Hon. Isaac Adongo has already flagged the liquidation plan as similar to the earlier campaign that cost taxpayers a whooping Gh25 billion and the collapse of 400 financial institutions, a racket that led to tens of thousands of jobs lost, panic withdrawals and a near-destruction of the Ghanaian banking sector.

“The revocation methods used were chaotic and were characterised by high-handedness, fraught with predatory regulatory actions, political biases and were riddled with technical flaws”, said HON. Adongo

While NIB currently faces a capital gap of Ghc2, 2 billion Ghana, the Akufo Addo government is refusing to honour certificates raised by contractors that the bank granted money to amounting to over GHS2.1 billion.

An amount of Ghc860 million of NIB’s loan has surreptitiously been written off from its books, while another GHC 857, 000.00 in government bonds have been affected by the Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP)

According to updates from the bank, the government’s restrictions on granting loans over the past six years have also deprived the bank of substantial interest income and hindered its operations leading to its inability to face off the liquidity challenges.

Interestingly, NIB has a better financial record than ADB which the Finance Minister is dubiously trying to use to acquire NIB. To be sure, ADB has not posted its financial statement for the past five years, a clear breach of the Bank of Ghana’s regulations.

“How can a loss-making bank with negative equity be buying or merging with another bank which has not published financial reports for more than 5 years with negative equity”, queried Professor John Gatsi, the dean of the school of the University of Cape Coast.

Ranking member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Adongo insist that restructuring of the balance sheet of the bank could generate in excess of GHC2.75 billion to wipe off the GHC2.2 billion and leave a free shareholders fund and equity of about GHS350 million towards recapitalization and a total cash injection of GH2.8b

“Sale of NIB’s 24% shares in Nestle Ghana acquired at Ghc50 million a long time ago, that was given a conservative value of Ghc500million in 2018. This singular proposal would have generated risk-free cash of Ghc500 million for NIB and provided a realised capital gain of Ghc450 million for recapitalisation. Strangely, this was either ignored or lost on Hon. Ken Ofori Atta, who opted to take the shares in Nestle and swap it with a Ghc500 million government bond plus a further Ghc 800 million government debt as a deposit for shares. As it turned out, those bonds have since been impaired through the poor conduct of the Finance Minister in the infamous and unending DDEP consistent with IFRS”, Mr. Adongo suggests.

According to the NDC Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga and ranking member on the finance committee of parliament, the intention to sell off the bank is not only ill-motivated but fraught with legal, technical and regulatory flaws.

Established in 1963 under the National Investment Bank Act (ACT163), NIB plays a crucial role in promoting and strengthening rapid industrialization in Ghana.

Over the years, NIB has facilitated the establishment of numerous joint enterprises and supported the growth of various companies in different sectors.

Despite its tragedies, NIB has increased its deposit position from GHS3.2 billion in August 2022 to GHS5.1 billion in August 2023, with a target of reaching GHS7.0 billion by the end of the year with the consistency of growing its customer base at more than 2000 accounts every month.

Despite having workable and less expensive options, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta and his allies at the Bank of Ghana choose more costly options, raising perennial sentiments about the secret motivations of Ken Ofori-Atta in employing such clearly irrational tactics in the Banking sector, where his private company, DataBank Financial Services tend to come up with juicy benefits from the fallouts of these actions.