by Bright Ewulu / 2005-12-29

The chairman of the bank Professor Akin Mabogunje and its CEO, Alhaji Falalu Bello, who disclosed this at a press conference yesterday in Lagos stated that with the granting of final approval by CBN and the sanctioning of its scheme of merger by the Federal High Court last Thursday, were indicators that its consolidation effort has ended successfully.
According to them, the bank is going to be the first to integrate its operations, saying that it’s already working as an organization and that its operational head office will be based in Abuja.
In order to forge a strong operational system, the bank aired that the group has adopted a highly robust and versatile core Banking Application called BANKS certified by oracle, adding that it will run on the latest oracle version platform oracle 109.”
As the chairman stated during the briefing yesterday by top slots of merging “within the last couple of weeks, our group has expanded to include NNB International Bank Plc, Bank of the North Limited and New Africa Bank Limited. The admission of these institutions has at once broadened the scope of the group and placed it in a better stead to harness the abundant opportunities in the Nigerian economy.
“One of the biggest strengths of the Unity Bank group lies in the vast spread of its business outlets which are over 200 with shareholders’ fund of N27 billion upon the conclusion of ongoing verification by the CBN,” he said.
He raised hope that the group will be a shining example of post-consolidation, saying that it will remain a cohesive, dynamic and solid bank.
Said he: “The existing partners in the group have a fairly impressive presence in the six geo-political regions in the country and once full activities commence, the new bank is going to be a major player in retail, corporate and commercial banking in not only Nigeria but the African region.
Going further, the bank maintained that it will remain a customer driven institution that would seek to leverage on skilled and motivated workforce in order to stay ahead of the game.
It should be recalled that CBN had in a letter dated December 22, 2005 conveyed its final approval to the bank and urged it to quickly conclude its integration of BON, NNB and New Africa Bank which recently joined the group within the remaining days.
As the letter read “we refer to your letter dated December 20, 2005 in respect of the above subject and hereby convey final approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria for the merger of Intercity Bank Plc, First Interstate Bank Plc, Tropical Commercial bank Plc, Pacific Bank Limited, Centre-Point Bank Plc and Societe Bancaire Limited…!
“As a result of the inclusion of NNB International, Bank of the North and New Africa Bank to the group, you are advised to fast-track their integration,” it stated.