FirstBank has said that it did have in its possession any funds belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the National Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) that were TSA-eligible.
In a terse statement on Saturday, the bank stated “categorically state that it does not hold any funds due NPDC and NNPC that are TSA eligible as carried in recent media reports as the Bank has since transferred all funds due to the TSA accounts in compliance with the policy directive.
“FirstBank remains a compliant institution and always abides by all extant regulatory rules and regulations”, the statement signed by Folake Ani-Mumuney, Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, stated.
The Federal High Court in Lagos had on Thursday ordered seven commercial banks to temporarily remit a total of $793.2m allegedly hidden by them in contravention of the Federal Government’s TSA policy.
Justice Chuka Obiozor ordered the seven banks to remit the various amounts allegedly being kept illegally in their custody to the designated Federal Government’s asset recovery dollars account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
