Wema Bank Denies Misleading Claims on Gulf Bank Properties
Wema Bank Plc filed a corporate action statement on 18 May 2026 rejecting media allegations concerning the sale of Banana Island properties linked to the defunct Gulf Bank Plc. The filing sets out the bank's account of a ₦4.6 billion inter-bank placement made in 2002 and the subsequent recovery process, including NDIC involvement.
Wema Bank Plc has issued a public statement disputing what it describes as false and misleading media publications concerning legacy transactions involving the now-defunct Gulf Bank Plc. According to the filing, Wema Bank made an inter-bank placement of ₦4.6 billion with Gulf Bank in 2002.
By August 2004, the outstanding balance had been reduced to approximately ₦1.2 billion, after which it became delinquent. The EFCC subsequently investigated the then Managing Director of Gulf Bank and traced diverted funds to Banana Island properties held by two separate companies — Bacad Finance & Investment Company Ltd (now Supra Commercial Trust Limited) and Euston Wenberg Eng Ltd.
The bank states that both companies voluntarily relinquished their interests in those properties toward settling Gulf Bank's indebtedness to Wema Bank. The NDIC formally acknowledged Gulf Bank's indebtedness to Wema Bank in letters dated September 26, 2007, and June 10, 2009, both of which have been submitted as evidence in ongoing Federal High Court proceedings before Justice Allagoa in Lagos.
The filing further states that NDIC paid Wema Bank the shortfall remaining after the property sale. The bank confirmed it is contesting two separate suits recently filed against it by the NDIC at the Federal High Court, Lagos.
