Naija News

There is also indication that the United Kingdom branch of Intercontinental bank branch may be put up for sale any moment from now.

A Federal High Court had last Friday dissolved Intercontinental bank and gave full legal backing to Access bank to take over the assets and liability of the defunct Intercontinental bank.

Access bank Group Managing Director, Aigboje Aig Imokhuede said the affected 130 branches constitute 27 per cent of the Intercontinental bank and 25 per cent of Access bank branch network with less than 200,000 customers out of the customer base of 4.4 million.

He said when Access bank management took over the bank few weeks ago, a critical assessment carried on the Intercontinental bank branches nationwide revealed that only 40 per cent of the bank's branches were performing, hence the need to rationalise.

"In our first month in the bank, from our critical analysis, we discovered that Intercontinental bank lost N5 billion and in the second month, it lost N3.5 billion. I have never lost such huge figure before. So it is not for us to contemplate on what to do, it is for us to take a right step that we know is good for our shareholders and our customers," he said.

He said the decision of the bank to sacked 1,110 workers was driven by the desire for value and profit making, adding that the retrenchment exercise cut across the two banks and was not meant to witch-hunt anybody.

"It covers the two banks and it was based on performance and before we embarked on the exercise, it was cleared with labour, Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASBIFFI). The 1,110 affected staff is less than 20 per cent of the entire workforce of the two banks," he said.

Imokhuede explained that besides the N6.2 billion gratuity funded by the previous Intercontinental bank management for the disengaged worker, Access bank has committed additional N5 billion as severance package for the purpose.