Secrets Reporters
Two shareholders namely Neemtree Limited with 29.59 percent and SW8 Investment Limited with 26.87 percent control 56.46 percent of Wema Bank Plc. In the bank’s rights issue, those two vehicles absorbed 91.45 percent of all allotted shares – 12.93 billion of 14.14 billion thus taking about 6.46 billion shares beyond their entitlements. The rights issue closed 143.5 million shares short of its maximum, with no public explanation for the shortfall.
The N50 billion private placement at exactly 4,545,454,542 shares at N11 each, worth N49,999,999,962, listed on November 4, 2025 named no allottee and no adviser. Fifty billion naira of a licensed bank’s equity changed hands with no public record of who took it is what the books seen by SecretsReporters shows.
The register tells one more story. Odu’a Investment Company built its holding from 661.5 million shares to 2.498 billion through the raises, then sold down to 869.6 million in the first half of 2026, in and out within months. Other names on the register, Fidescore and Petrotrab, have unknown owners. SW8’s natural owner is unresolved; Neemtree’s widely reported link to Kessington Adebutu is press-reported context, not this newspaper’s finding.
The law’s demands are clear. The CBN’s Corporate Governance Guidelines require prior written approval for acquisitions of 5 percent or more, with monetary penalties, six-month suspension of responsible directors and possible removal for breaches. Section 7 of BOFIA voids any transfer of significant shareholding done without the Governor’s consent, punishable by not less than N20 million plus ₦500,000 per day. Under CAMA, every 5 percent-plus holder must be disclosed to the company but the humans behind SW8 and behind the N50 billion placement are not.
Sections 6 and 7 of the EFCC Act give the Commission the mandate to investigate, identify the persons behind such flows, and trace and freeze suspicious funds; the money-laundering law requires beneficial owners to be known and verified. What that provides for here is an investigation that names SW8’s humans, names the ₦50 billion allottees, and asks why two vehicles were allowed 91.45 percent of a rights issue. Who owns SW8? Who took the N50 billion? And what explains 6.46 billion shares beyond entitlement?
