BY LANRE ADEWOLE
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Since the penultimate week intervention on the massive fraud and institutional cover-up rocking Osun State-partly-owned mortgage bank; Living Trust Mortgage Bank Plc, the Central Bank has taken two quick steps to legitimize the illegalities and outright crimes that have seen the mini bank with just N2.5 billion share capital, raking up N11 billion non-performing loans, according to CBN’s own investigation!
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Just as I promised in the first of the planned series on the savagery being visited on the bank by the combo of the investors brought in by the yesterday’s administration of Gboyega Oyetola, officials of the current administration and the supervising apex bank, this follow-up will be mainly to serve “receipt” to the Nigerian public as a proof of the corporate messiness going on in the bank’s boardroom and the rapacity being visited on its vault.
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About 48 hours after the initial piece titled “Cardoso’s CBN and Osun mortgaged bank”, panicky top officials of the apex bank who had practically looked away while the bank was being subjected to amoral insider abuse, suddenly woke up to their regulatory responsibility and issued a summons to the sacked managing director, Adewunmi Adekunle to make himself available in Abuja on March 31, 2026.
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The summons, obtained by Gibbers, reads, “The Central Bank of Nigeria is in the process of concluding a special examination conducted on Living Trust Mortgage Bank Plc. The examination covers 2020 to 2026. The interview aspect of the examination is scheduled for March 31, 2026 at the Central Bank of Nigeria to make some clarifications before the conclusion of the examination and issuance of regulatory letter”.
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Days after the issuance of the invite, CBN, without any explanation, cancelled the meeting and rescheduled for April 7, 2026. Well, my people are waiting. A delayed treatment is better than a septic sore. Better late than never, they say.
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But the apex bank would appear not done with whatever regulatory abracadabra the mortgage bank is being subjected to. While stakeholders were waiting for its self-announced “special examination “ of the bank to be concluded, CBN allegedly went ahead to confirm Kamaldeen Adekilekun as the substantive chairman of the bank’s board.
For context, in a letter dated April 17th, 2025
Osun State Government nominated Adekilekun to the board of the bank as an independent director. Then fired him in another letter dated 29th April, same year. His nomination lasted just 12 days. No doubt, some significant politicking possibly dictated such a short-lived tenure, but it is what it is and the state, whether politically influenced or not, acted within its power to hire and fire.
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Then CBN began a ding-dong with the Adeleke administration over the withdrawn nominee, going ahead to name him the interim chairman of the bank’s board even after he was no longer representing the state! The apex bank then concluded the travesty in the week of Gibbers’ first publication on the matter as reported by The Nation newspaper in its March 28,2026 edition. The publication quoted from a letter allegedly issued the withdrawn nominee, confirming him as the substantive chair of the bank, while the so-called “special examination” was yet to be concluded!
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In a show of force and superiority to the Osun governor who wrote to withdraw Adekilekun’s nomination, the apex bank, as reported by The Nation, told the governor off with, “In our letter with reference number OFI/DOL/CON/PLI/001/213, we drew your attention to the fact that board nomination and appointment, once approved by the CBN, is a tenured appointment as prescribed in Sections 2.4.5 and 2.4.6 of the Code of Corporate Governance for Primary Mortgage Banks in Nigeria.
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“We also averred, in our letter, that there was nothing in your letter suggesting that Dr. Adekilekun was in breach of the relevant sections of BOFIA 2020 or any CBN regulation which could disqualify him from holding the position or completing his term of office.
“Based on the foregoing, we therefore decline your request to withdraw Dr. Adekilekun’s appointment”.
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The institutional challenge thrown to the governor was signed by Amonia Oponsuju on behalf of the Director of Financial Institutions Supervision Department.
The quoted reference number on the supposed new letter was from the last letter written to the state government. Do we take this a clerical oversight or what?
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Maybe Osun state government which brought its now-CBN-hijacked nominee should speak publicly on why it fired the now-imposed board chairman in the first instance, since CBN claimed there was nothing in earlier communications from the state government to show Adekilekun breached banking laws.
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Amazingly and amusingly, the apex bank also claimed security of tenure for board members of primary mortgage banks in Nigeria, regardless of how they handle their responsibilities. This immunity would seem to contradict another stance of the apex bank on insider credit which is nothing more than abuse of privilege and trust. That internal abuse has cost Osun and its citizens over N11 billion, N2.2 billion of which, are in custody of political leaders and top government officials as revealed by CBN-ordered audit. A roll-call of dishonour may follow this piece.
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If CBN appears to suffer selective amnesia, there is a memo from its leadership, dated February 17, 2025 to all banks with reference no; BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/018/006, titled “Letter to all banks: compliance with insider-related credit limits”. A portion that caught the eyes is sub-titled “Step Down of Directors with Non-Performing Insider Loans”. It reads, “Directors with non-performing insider-related facilities are required to step down immediately, from the board, while the bank should commence immediate remediation of the loans through recovery of the collaterals including the shareholdings of the affected directors”.
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The letter signed by the Director of Banking Supervision, Dr. Adetona Adedeji didn’t exempt any banks and compelled immediate compliance.
The closing chapter reads, “All banks are expected to comply with these directives effective immediately in adherence to regulatory requirements and sound corporate governance practices. Please be guided accordingly”.
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Then let’s see what CBN itself discovered about insider abuse or facilities as they call it, in Living Trust Mortgage Bank.
A memo to the leadership of the raped and ripped bank, specifically the suspended and reinstated managing director, with reference no OFI/DOA/CON/PMB/001/018, dated February 17, 2026 and signed by Solaja Mohammed-Jamiu Olayemi, Director, Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department of the apex bank, practically ordered a house cleansing but sadly by the same people who soiled it.
Titled “Re-Special Examination of Living Trust Mortgage Bank Plc as at January 30, 2026, the memo recalled the suspended managing director and also ordered, under different sub-headings, inter alia, “All benefits, allowances, perquisites, reimbursables, and board benefits (excluding sitting allowances) are suspended until CBN certifies substantial loan recovery.
“All new loans or enhancements to insiders, related parties, associates of board members and obligors, with classified loans as at January 30th 2026 are suspended until significant recovery is achieved and certify by the CBN”.
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The reinstated MD was also ordered to “Submit a detailed recovery plan for the over N11 billion non-performing loans within seven (7) working days”.
It was also ordered that “Monthly updates and evidence of recoveries must commence on February 28, 2026”.
CBN further directed that “All erroneous or misleading ledger, postings must be corrected. Hidden or inaccessible ledges, including CitiTrust Holdings Plc loans and account 0000121739 (Living Trust Asset/Properties) must be released to Finance, IT, and Treasury.
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“All asset, purchases, branch expansion and investment projects are suspended unless approved by the CBN”.
The memo only stopped short of announcing a takeover of the bank’s management. Who then preserves management and board like Living Trust’s in office after an indictment of this kind, except there are vast vested interests. But the people of Osun are either made a priority in the preservation of the bank which evidence shows has been doing everything except providing mortgage services, or everybody should answer their parents’ names.
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The altruistic CBN would have long sent the board and management of the obviously failing bank, packing. But the CBN that is showing up in Osun is strange to best practices and until the Cardoso team does the needful for the sake of Osun people, this page will keep intervening, including publishing the full list of those abusing depositors’ funds internally, without leaving out the big political masquerades of past and present administrations.
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The Adeleke leadership is not without blemish in this saga. I have documents showing poor judgement and administrative flip-flop, coupled with instances where local politics was allowed to override sound reasoning. But CBN is undoubtedly the culprit here and until it does right by Osun people, the call-out won’t cease.
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For Governor Jackson Adeleke, if he really wants to honour the memory of his big brother, who founded the bank as the first executive governor of Osun State, he should simply divest the state’s shares from the empty shell the bank has become and start a brand new mortgage bank for his people. Maybe CBN will still claim Osun can’t divest, just like it has taken over and away the power of the state to nominate directors, despite being a major shareholder.
Interesting times.
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ADEWOLE is a columnist with Nigerian Tribune. (First published by Nigerian Tribune on April 5, 2026)
