Former customers of the Defunct “Ultimate Impression Microfinance Bank in Lokoja have accused the All Progressive Congress ( APC ), House of Representatives candidate for Dekina/ Bassa, Hon Gowon Haruna Idris ( IJN ) of embezzlement.
Mr. Idris, the chief Executive Officer of the said bank diverted millions of Naira saved in the Bank while operating with the bank headquarters in Lokoja and its branch in Anyigba, in Kogi State.
According to one of the customers who disclosed this to reporters,(Name withheld) said, “We are over 1,000 and have written to Nigeria Depositors Insurance Corporation, NDIC, to verify the authenticity and status of the defunct Microfinance Bank and compel the owner, IJN, to pay up their money deposited at his bank before it was closed down.
“We are many from Kogi State that were banking there supervised IJN who approached civil servants, businessmen, and women, and all other ranges of customers that operated both current and saving accounts with the Bank”, he said
Another customer Grace Amodu, whose father was one of the victims, said “After two years of operation, the Bank was shut down by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for failing to meet the requirements of the financial regulators”.
Amodu vowed that the former Kogi State House of Assembly member, IJN, must face the full wrath of the law, stressing that relocating to Abuja with customers’ money via Ultimate Impression Microfinance Bank will not spare him.
She also revealed that many of the customers that do not want their names mentioned expressed worries that their lives will be under threat when their names are divulged.
Explaining further, Grace said, “After the closure of the Bank in 2016, the management of the Microfinance Bank placed a notice of NDIC, ongoing verification for payment of customers stocked funds, but six years later, no response to refund customers’ hard earned money”.
She, however, called on Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to intervene and get justice for the victims of the failed microfinance Bank.
“I equally want NDIC to come out clear and take a position on the failed microfinance Bank, whether it was known by law and other relevant agencies or not”.
She further accused the APC candidate of using his connection with the then government of the state to carry out the massive fraud against the Innocent Kogites.
“My position is to get Justice for my late father as it was unfair for the man behind the crime to be going freely in society after this monumental crime.
“From all indication, IJN has collected the money from NDIC, and vehemently refused to settle the customers”, she said.