Despite SLOK-Nigeria continues to cunningly deny the sale of FIBank and its Gambia, Guinea and Sierra Leone subsidiaries to Liluim Grays, leaked incontrovertible documents have not only confirmed the transaction, but also, naked SLOK’s double-cross tactic to hijack the bank.

Based on these documents, the Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone, Professor, Kaifala Kallon has on the advice of the authorized legal adviser to the Government, the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, ruled that, indeed, a legal transaction took place between SLOK-Nigeria and Lulium Grays for the sale and purchase of FIBank.

Nonsensically, even with SLOK-Nigeria’s continuous denial of such an open deal, they had not produced any documents to convincingly prove to the Governor and the government’ legal adviser, that FIBank was not sold to the purchaser, Lilium Grays, but rather babyishly castigating the governor for prudently ruling in favor of Lilium Grays to takeover of the FIBank-SL, which they termed as “illegal”

In law, nothing refutes or substantiates a claim more than documentary evidence.

There is authentic evidence that in the matter of SLOK-Nigeria and Lilium Grays, the Special Board Resolution of SLOK Nigeria Limited (RC NO: 94896) reached and passed the following:

1.That Slok Nigeria Ltd has approved the transfer and sale of its entire shareholding of 4,400,000 shares in FIB Group Ltd, being the entire issued share capital of FIB Group Limited, to Lilium Grays.

2.That the consideration for the transfer of the shares be by agreement between the transferee and the transferor, and that, the directors of the company are hereby authorized to enter into the sale transaction and to sign all necessary documents and instruments in effecting the transfer and sale.

3.Additionally, that directors are authorized to file all necessary papers with all regulatory authorities to ensure the legal and beneficial transfer of the shares of the company to the buyers.

4.That to the extent that any director or officer of the company has taken any actions or signed any documents or undertakings prior to the date hereof which would have been approved if taken or signed after the date hereof, the same be and are hereby ratified, approved and confirmed by the directors.

5.This resolution is certified to be a true copy extract from the Minutes of the meeting of the Board of Directors, which was duly called and held in all respects as required by Law and on the terms of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the said Company at which meeting a quorum of the board of Director of the said company was present and voted in favour of the said resolution.

In another correspondence regarding the Acquisition of FIB Group Limited, The Gambia, FIBank (SL) was also informed that acquisition of FIB Group Limited, The Gambia, by Lilium Grays from Slok Nigeria Limited was completed on 8th February 2016 (the Acquisition).

As a result, Lilium Holdings Limited, the majority owner of Lilium Grays, is now the ultimate holding companies of the FIB banking group, consisting of (First International Bank, DRC s.a.r.l), (First International Bank, Gambia Limited), (First International Bank, Guinea SA), (First International Bank, Liberia Limited) and (First International Bank, Sierra Leone Limited).
If the above is not self-explanatory that SLOK-Nigeria’s board had approved transfer of FIBanks shareholdings to Lilum Grays, then what is?

Thus, so competently briefed by the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone, Prof. Keifala Kallon was forced to describe the behavior of the former Managing Director of First International Bank (FIB), Dr. Hasiatu Jalloh who sought to prevent FIBank-SL’s takeover by its new owners by ordering closure of its Freetown headquarters and branch offices in Sierra Leone as “lawless” and “reckless”.

Prof. Kallon affirms that the transaction between SLOK-Nigeria and FIBank International took place at the bank’s headquarters in the Gambia, which oversees the activities of First International Bank Sierra Leone Limited.

Prior to this clarification of a matter that dates back to 2015, legally related correspondences dated February 4th 2010, 25th June 2018, 31st August and 23rd November 2018 changed hands between BSL and FIB proprietors in the Gambia.

They include letters from the Master and Registrar in the Gambia, who is a former Judge, lawyers defending both parties and the Attorney General’s office which is the legal representative body of the Bank of Sierra Leone as mandated by law and the Sierra Leone judiciary.

Unfortunately, in a bid to muddy the waters, a lot of disinformation has been published in some local tabloids purporting that SLOK-Nigeria was cheated and that it is fighting to recover FIBank.

Assuming that SLOK-Nigeria’s claim is true, why is it that when the Office of the Sierra Leone Attorney General and Minister of Justice contacted their Gambia counterpart for clarification of the SLOK-Nigeria/Lilum Grays transaction they wrote back, with documentary evidence to declare that, indeed, the sale took place and was recorded with the Gambia Masters and Registrar’s Office?