ZLP boss condemns barricade of Andy Uba’s house by bank staffers

The leadership of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) has condemned the strongest of terms the barricade and taking over of the residence of Senator Andy Uba by some staffers of the Heritage Bank in the early hours of Monday, June 21, 2021.

The bank staffers were said to have taken over Uba’s residence with the reasons that the former Senator was owing the Bank and that they went to him for a peaceful meeting. 

Reacting to the development through a statement Tuesday in Abuja, ZLT’s national chairman Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, described the act of the Heritage Bank and their staffers as “grossly irresponsible and against the ethics and ethos of the banking profession.

“What happened between Senator Andy Uba and the Heritage Bank was a business relationship clothed with fiduciary understanding which is not for public drama. By the action of Heritage Bank, they have acted in an ignorious manner as paid hirelings out to embarrass and disgrace   Senator Andy Uba in other to satisfy their paid masters rather than a genuine attempt to recover the so called debt. No responsible Bank or its officials anywhere in the world will act in that manner. 

“As a banker of many years, I know that nanks don’t recover their debt through a public show rather there are procedures and mechnisms available to any bank to recover any debt owned by a customer that is getting difficult to be repaid. I don’t know when it has become a crime for individual and business concerns to borrow from a bank. Most business concerns run their businesses with some facilities from banks in a fiduciary relationship and it is never a crime. Is Nigeria not owing?

“In the times of politics particularly now that the primary election by different political parties including the party of Senator Andy Uba are also selecting their governorship candidates, the actions of the Heritage Bank at this critical point lends credence to the fact that the action was political and aimed at working against the interest of Senator Andy Uba who is also an aspirant in the state for the race of governor in Anambra state. 

“Senator Andy Uba should brief his lawyers to take Heritage Bank to court for damages for a breach of fiduciary relationship between the bank and himself and for the bank to pay for their bad behaviour. My intervention in this matter is to let the Heritage Bank and other similar institutions like that in Nigeria is not a Banana Republic where rules are not observed, and I am not happy with their actions.

“When the contract between the two parties was entered into, the public was not involved and not aware, and you can not dance naked in the market Square under the guise that you were on debt recovery.”