Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, the parent company of the Ecobank Group, has announced the resignation of Mr. Charles Kie, the managing director o
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, the parent company of the Ecobank Group, has announced the resignation of Mr. Charles Kie, the managing director of Ecobank Nigeria Limited, its Nigerian arm. Kie’s resignation is under unclear circumstances and the bank has not given a reason as to why he has resigned. The ETI, in a statement sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, said the Board will immediately activate the process of selecting his successor.
In 2017, Charles Kie, had filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit before the Federal High Court in Lagos, seeking protection from police harassment. Kie claimed that the police had been stalking him, with the aim of forcing Ecobank to “illegally” transfer $10.5m from the account of one of its customers to a third party. The MD recalled that policemen on September 28 besieged the Corporate Headquarters of Ecobank on Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, Lagos, seeking to arrest himon the grounds that he refused to comply with their instruction to illegally transfer the sum of $10,500,000 from a customer’s account to a third party account.
Charles Kie said as a result of the “damaging scene” caused by the policemen, the bank’s business activities for that day was disrupted. He said he had since been living under the fear of police intimidation and harassment, which he said had in turn been taking its toll on Ecobank’s daily business activities where he has the responsibility of making key decisions daily. Thus the decision to tender his resignation. The Board has said it will immediately activate the process of selecting a successor.
Kie joined Ecobank in October 2011 as chief operating officer of the then Ecobank Capital, and was subsequently appointed the head of the group’s corporate banking business.
