eTranzact International Plc has said that Valentine Obi, managing director and some of its other directors will step down, after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) asked the senior management of the payment processor company to resign.
The action is coming in the wake of alleged fraud to the tune of ₦11 billion perpetrated on its platform, by Michael Obasuyi, CEO of Platinum Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Limited on the platform.
In a letter signed by the company’s secretary, eTranzact International, said that Obi will step down as the company managing director, while Niyi Toluwalope will be taking over as the managing director in an acting capacity.
Until this new appointment, Toluwalope was the Chief Financial officer of the company, a position he has held since 2011.
Others affected by the management change include Executive Directors; Sullivan Akala, Ike Eze and Chief Technology Officer, Richard Omoniyi, Head of Operations, Kehinde Segun.
eTranzact International however denied reports that PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC, and Earnest & Young have been recruited to review the accounts of the company, claiming that the move for the change in the management of the firm is strictly a decision by the board.
“We want to categorically state that there was no fraud in eTranzact International Plc, however, a merchant used the company’s interface with a bank to perpetrate fraud,” the statement stressed.
The firm also affirmed that neither of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) nor Ernst and Young is reviewing the books of the company. eTranzacts claims PwC handles various technology-related assignments from time to time for the company, none of which has to do with account reviewing.
E-Tranzact international was incorporated as a Private Limited Liability Company on the 7th of May 2003. It became a public limited liability company on the 7th of August 2009 and was quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
Its shares are currently trading flat on the Nigerian Stock Exchange at ₦4.55 with its one year return down by 7.14%.