There is growing concern among officials of the World Bank and other international credit lending bodies over the ongoing reform in the Nigerian banks, aftermath of the sack of some bank chiefs recently by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Lamido Sanusi.

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The World Bank and other international lending institutions that support both the government and private business organisations in Nigeria are said to be raising queries over the recent actions of the CBN. Sanusi sacked five bank chief executives on August 14 and handed them over to the security agencies for criminal trial in the courts.

The Chief Executive Officers of Oceanic (Cecelia Ibru), Intercontinental (Erastus Akingbola), Afribank (Sebastine Adigwe), Finbank (Okey Nwosu) and Union bank (Barthelomew Ebong) as well as those of some of their subsidiaries were affected by Sanusi's action and are being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

An official of the World Bank, who pleaded not to be mentioned, told Sunday Independent that the apex world financial institution was particularly concerned about the legality or otherwise of the CBN actions, especially as it concerns the N400 billion bail out extended to the troubled banks without an enabling law by the nation's National Assembly.

"What the CBN has done may have saved the banks in question from going under, but it has also definitely affected Nigeria's international credit rating negatively. The international financial institutions now view Nigerian government and businesses with suspicion as regards their credit rating.

"They are not comfortable that the CBN governor could release such a huge sum of money to privately owned banks without an enabling law by the National Assembly and I think that is what Mr. Sanusi has been labouring to explain to them during his trips to London and China recently," said the official.

Especially disconcerting to the international financial community, according to the official, was the explanation Sanusi gave in London to the effect that the CBN had to print money to shore up the dwindling capital base of the five troubled banks. "They were taken aback that Sanusi could do all that without an enabling law by the National Assembly," the official said.

The World Bank official said corresponding financial institutions overseas which lend money to Nigerian businesses may stop such credit facilities until confidence is restored in the Nigerian financial sector.

"You are aware that some banks abroad give short term loans to Nigerian businessmen, especially importers of finished goods. Some of the foreign banks may not extend such loans now, especially as the credit facilities are guaranteed by some Nigerian banks, including the five troubled ones.

"Another source of worry to the international financial institutions is the silence of the Nigerian authorities on the CBN action. Although, the authorities have said they support the action by the CBN governor, they did not say whether it was part of the government's economic reform policy and state the direction it is going. "They are still confused about how the CBN could invest public funds to shore up the working capital of privately owned banks without explaining whether it was a loan or equity fund and how it would be returned to the public purse. These are very sensitive issues to the banks abroad, especially in these days of economic meltdown when most of them are struggling to stay afloat," he said.

He said most importers would soon feel the impact of the reactions of their foreign lenders except the Federal Government moves fast to clear their areas of anxiety. Particularly at risk are the major importers of refined petroleum products who often use such credit lines to sustain regular importation of fuel into Nigeria.

A major fuel shortage, which could ground Nigeria's economy to a halt is looming as banks have placed restrictions on lending to major oil marketers who are responsible for the importation of over 60 per cent of petroleum products into the country.

Investigations by Sunday Independent revealed that many marketers are already running short of funds.

Lending banks, it would be recalled, took to this new measure following the on going auditing of their operations by the CBN, which has led to the arrest and continued detention of many banks' CEO.

Executive Secretary of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, (MOMAN), Thomas Olawore confirmed the threat of withheld credit for the petroleum products importers, adding that MOMAN has communicated its predicament to the Federal Government and requested its urgent intervention.

" Our members, especially those whose names appeared on the CBN debtors list have complained that their letters of credit are not being honoured by the corresponding banks abroad. If the government does not act fast, this situation may affect the importation of petroleum products into Nigeria soon.

"I have sent mails to members on this subject and as you can see I am still waiting for their response before we can know how best to answer the questions," he told this newspaper in a telephone chat.

A Managing Director of one of the major marketing companies, who spoke with Sunday Independent, noted that the country would be sorry for the actions of the CBN governor if not properly and urgently modified.

He said further that it is not possible to avoid a fresh rounds of petroleum products scarcity as most marketers and importers are now faced with the problem of trust from corresponding banks as letters of credit from Nigerian banks are not being honoured by the corresponding banks.