N17bn Debt: GTBank Sues Executives of 13 Banks

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) has taken legal action against 60 top executives from 13 commercial banks in a dispute over a N17 billion loan related to the Anchor Borrowers Programme. The executives, including chairmen, CEOs, directors, and company secretaries, face contempt proceedings for allegedly failing to enforce a No-Debit Order on Afex Commodity Exchange’s accounts.

The Federal High Court in Lagos, presided over by Justice CJ Aneke, issued an order for the executives, including those from banks such as Access Bank, Citibank, Jaiz Bank, and Union Bank, to be jailed for not complying with a ruling made on May 27, 2024. The court had directed the banks to transfer funds from Afex’s accounts to GTBank until the debt of N17.81 billion was cleared.

The loan, which includes N15.77 billion in outstanding principal and N2.04 billion in recovery costs, was originally meant to support smallholder farmers under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme. However, Afex failed to repay the loan even after an extension, prompting GTBank to seek legal redress.

In response, Afex has claimed to have repaid 90% of the loan and blamed economic challenges, including the naira redesign policy, for the farmers’ inability to repay the remaining amount. Afex has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria to activate a collateral guarantee to mitigate the impact on farmers.

The court has also allowed GTBank to take over and sell commodities stored in Afex’s warehouses to recover the debt. The case has been adjourned to next Thursday for further proceedings.