Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) has taken legal action against 60 top executives from 13 commercial banks, including chairmen, CEOs, directors, and company secretaries, in a case involving a N17bn loan under the Anchor Borrowers Programme.
The executives face contempt proceedings for allegedly failing to implement a No-Debit Order on Afex Commodity Exchange’s accounts, as directed by the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The court’s order, presided over by Justice CJ Aneke, mandates the 20 banks to transfer the funds standing to Afex’s credit to GTBank until the N17.81bn debt, which includes unpaid amounts and recovery costs, is fully repaid. The court also authorized GTBank to seize and sell commodities stored in Afex’s 16 warehouses across seven states, which were financed by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) loan facility.
Afex Commodity Exchange sourced the loan from GTBank to finance smallholder farmers under the CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme. Despite claims of repaying about 90% of the loan, Afex has yet to clear the debt, attributing the delay to economic challenges faced by the farmers.
GTBank’s decision comes amidst the ongoing discussions with CBN to activate the collateral guarantee clause of the Anchor Borrowers Programme, which aims to support smallholder farmers and ensure loan recovery.
The matter has been adjourned to next Thursday.
