M0N FEB 10 2025-theGBJournal|There is currently an uneasy calm in the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) over the control of the institution’s microfinance bank.
NOUN MFB was incorporated on March 2, 2009, and granted an operational licence by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on 3, August 2009 as Kelmaid MFB. It changed its name to Summit MFB with the Corporate Affairs Commission’s (CAC) approval on 10 August 2010 and eventually started business on February 9, 2011, in Abuja.
Since its inception, however, the bank’s performance has been abysmal as evidenced by operational losses incurred over the years.
Worsening its plight now is the infighting among the owners comprising the university, the cooperative society, the owner of Spectrum Engineering, Isa Abubakar, the Owner of Tanadi Investment Ltd and former Vice-chancellor of the school, Samaila Ado Tenebe, and Integrated Facility Management Services Ltd.
There are also a few other stakeholders but whose interests are either inconsequential or non verifiable.
Investments like microfinance banks among others have been another stream of income for universities across the country and the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Lagos, Lagos, Bayero University, Kano and University of Calabar with their captive markets have profited from them.
Sources say the peace and effective control that have nurtured MFBs in universities mentioned above, have eluded NOUN which managed to escape the CBN noose during the tenure of the former governor of the apex bank, Godwin Emefiele who revoked the licenses of many due to their erosion of capital and poor performance.
They confided in InsideBusinessNG that the NOUN MFB since inception has been beset with the non-availability of valid memorandum and articles of association, properly structured ownership, and lacking shareholder’s agreement to guide its operations. In addition, it has struggled to have dividend and investment policies.
While these are noticeable setbacks for the NOUN MFB, the fight for control is a major issue that insiders say could further cripple the lender and move it away from accomplishing the set objectives.
It now appears that One of the shareholders, who has tried to resolve the ownership debacle, having injected additional funding into the NOUNMFB, is trying to seize control of the bank above the school and the cooperative society which have been known to be the majority founding shareholders.
It would appear that some of those angling for the NOUN MFB were there when the lender was being badly run but waited for it to get to an abysmal position so they could take advantage of it.
Another source accused them of trying to take advantage of the captive market provided by the school’s student population and staff which the NOUN MFB enjoys, adding that, this is driving the interest of parties outside the school’s community to have a shareholding in the NOUN MFB.
What is of concern now to some insiders is that they hope the present BC whose tenure expires next year will not jeopardize the interest of the university which the former immediate Vice-Chancellor did well to uphold.
Presently, the chair of the governing council of NOUN is Mallam Isa Yuguda, former governor of Bauchi State who was allegedly involved in a billion fraud case by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) whilst in office.
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