Nigeria’s Access Bank Plc on Monday debunked rumours doing the rounds on social media that its Group Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe, was arrested last week by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The clarification was made In a statement signed by Access Bank’s Company Secretary and sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Rumours circulated last week on social media that the business executive had been arrested by the anti-graft agency.

The arrest, rumour had it, was in connection to the recent court judgement against former Abia State governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, and his company, Slok Nigeria Limited.

Dispelling the rumour, the financial institution said Herbert Wigwe was only invited by the EFCC for talks on how to resolve the issue.

The bank said the invitation was in a bid to resolve the issue between Access Bank officials (including Herbert Wigwe the MD), and Slok Nigeria Limited vis a vis the ruling of the court in the case.

The statement further disclosed that the meeting between the bank and the EFCC was productive and that it was believed that the issue has been settled.

“Given the differing interests of the Commission and the Bank on the assets of Slok deriving from the court’s recent judgement on Slok, the Commission had invited for interrogation officials of Access Bank who were handling the Bank’s recovery efforts on Slok credit including its Group Managing Director.

“Following fruitful engagement between the Bank and the Commission, we are of the opinion that the issues relating to the Slok investigation has been resolved.” The statement read.

Slok Nigeria Limited received an undisclosed amount of loan from Diamond Bank Plc long before the defunct bank was acquired by Access Bank in 2019. Slok Nigeria had used its assets as collateral. Following Diamond Bank’s acquisition, Access Bank automatically inherited the Slok Nigeria loans.

In late 2019, the former governor was found guilty on several counts of fraud and sentenced to prison. The judge also ruled that his company – Slok Nigeria Limited – be liquidated and its proceeds handed over to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Howerver, The second part of the ruling generated controversy, as many Nigerians wondered why Slok Nigeria Limited was not handed over to the Abia State Government instead. After all, the former governor allegedly stole money from the people of Abia, not from the Federal Government.

In the meantime, Access Bank had its own concerns over the ruling. As noted earlier, Slok Nigeria Limited had used its assets as collateral when it collected loan from Diamond Bank Plc. Liquidating the company and giving the proceeds to the government could mean that the bank could lose its money and the assets that were used as collateral.