You must pay your debt, Ecobank replies Honeywell

Patrick Akinwuntan, CEO, Ecobank Nigeria

Ecobank has said it is unhindered by the continued attempts by Honeywell to coerce the public into believing that it has fully paid its overdue indebtedness to the bank.

A statement signed by the Bank”s  Company Secretary/Chief Legal Counsel,  Adenike Laoye, made available to newsmen in Lagos at the weekend,  stated that the attention of the Bank had been drawn to several media reports stating that the Honeywell Group has filed a suit claiming damages against Ecobank in the sum of N72billion, stressing that there were many pending cases yet to be decided before the purported suit.

According to her ” It is noteworthy that Honeywell’s recent claim for damages was published and serialised in the news media even before the Bank was served with the court papers, which clearly elicits the ‘motive’ of a party owing huge sums of money.  Indeed, the purport of the matter is most curious especially as there are other pending matters in court which remain undecided.”

Laoye pointed out that Ecobank will continue to strongly resist any attempt to use a frivolous N72 billion claim to derail it from continuing to pursue the recovery of monies owed and overdue for payment, noting that Ecobank is resolute that the businesses it supports should also honour their obligations when due. “This is the crux of the demand on the Honeywell Group to pay their debts in full.”

“Ecobank is the Pan African bank with representation across 36 countries. The Ecobank Group supports various businesses in all the countries in which it operates while holding customer deposits in safe trust. As the matters are in court, we shall, as a responsible corporate citizen, allow due process to prevail in court rather than use the news media.  Our resolve is to fight to ensure that debtors fully honour their obligations after benefiting from credit facilities which helped to grow their businesses.”