UNTIL June 13, 2002 Bernard Longe was the managing director of First Bank of Nigeria Plc when he was sacked by the board following the botched acquisition of Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (Nitel) by Investors International Limited London (IILL), a special purpose vehicle, formed in 2001 for the purpose of acquiring controlling shares in the first national telecom operator.  Longe was sacked for approving credit facility of $131.7 million to IILL, which was attempting to acquire a 51 per cent stake in Nitel offered by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), late in 2001 under the privatisation programme. The amount was the 10 per cent non-refundable deposit which the company paid but could not meet its obligation for the remaining 90 per cent balance. The transaction was thereafter cancelled and the 10 per cent was seized. Because of this, the company could not repay the facility obtained from the bank.
While the company made attempt to recover its deposit, Longe was given the boot on July 5, 2002 as the board of the bank blamed him for lending such a huge amount to IILL allegedly without adequate security. Besides, the amount was said to have exceeded the bank’s single obligor limit at the time, even as the London telecoms firm lost out on the bid to acquire Nitel and so lost the non-refundable sum after the firm failed to secure the $1.185 billion balance within the 90 days deadline set by the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE).
The board however continued with attempts to recover the $131.7 million from the Nigerian government even after the write-off, a move that paid off somehow, when in 2008 the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) issued about 4.3 billion ordinary shares of the state telecoms giant to First Bank in lieu of the $131.7 million.

Court ruling
Not satisfied with the manner and way he was dismissed from office, Longe went to  court to seek redress. Longe in his statement of claim, said all the decisions taken in the failed deal, including the loan, was with the full consent and approval of all the directors of the bank.
He, therefore, prayed the court to declare his removal after the bank’s extraordinary board meeting on June 13, 2002, null and void.
The Supreme Court a  fortnight ago declared the sacking of Bernard Longe as managing director/chief executive of the First Bank of Nigeria on June 13, 2002, as unlawful and void.
George Oguntade, who gave the lead judgment, said in his 28-page unanimous judgment, concurred to by four other justices that Longe’s removal by the management of First Bank violated the provisions of section 266 (1) and (2) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (Cama).
Justice Oguntade ruled in the judgment that the “declaration that in particular the decision of the defendant’s board of directors held on 13th June 2002 to revoke the plaintiff’s (Bernard Longe) appointment as managing director/chief executive is wrongful, unlawful, invalid, null and void, and incapable of having any legal consequence.”
Longe was consequently granted the five reliefs sought as grounds of his appeal, including that the board of directors erred in its decision to hold a meeting where Longe was sacked, without notifying him; and that any decisions taken at the meeting, including any appointment to the office of managing director/CEO, was unlawful

CBN reacts
Mohammed Abdullahi, head of corporate affairs of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said the apex bank has no role to play in resolving the imminent change of leadership in First Bank following the judgement of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Abdullahi said the issue is strictly an internal affair of the bank as CBN has nothing whatsoever to do with the case.
He said there is no connection between Longe’s case and the sack of eight banks’ chief executives who are currently locked in legal battle with the apex bank over their disengagement.
According to him, there is no basis for comparison between the dismissal of Longe by the board and management of First Bank and the removal of CEOs of banks by the CBN as the regulator of the banking sector.
He explains: “The dismissal of Mr Longe was done by the Board of First Bank at that time, purportedly on the basis of CAMA (Companies and Allied Matters Act) while the removal of the bank chief executives was done by CBN as a regulator after the chief executives were found to have run their banks in a manner that put them in grave situation. Their removal by CBN was done on the basis of BOFIA (Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act). So there is no basis for comparison between the two situations. CBN followed due process of laws guiding banking operations in the country.

Others speak
Fred Ojeh, President of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) hailed the Supreme Court ruling restating Longe as the managing director of First Bank, saying that the judgment has again reposed confidence in the judiciary. He said the ruling should inspire the sacked managing director/chief executive of the eight purportedly rescued banks to go to court to challenge the CBN as their dismissal did not follow due process.
Ojeh said, “Longe cannot go back. They would pay him, No, no, no, this would not have implications or otherwise on the bank; he would just get paid for the damages,” he said.
Victor Ogiemwonyi, managing director of Partnership Investment Limited, a stockbroking firm, described the judgement as wonderful news, saying, “They will have to pay him damages now. He cannot become managing director again.”