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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a statement strongly dismissing false reports that the apex bank has liquidated Skye Bank Plc. The reports, which have been making the rounds, urged customers of Skye Bank to withdraw their funds from the bank, purporting that the bank is in distress.

In the statement released on Wednesday by Isaac Okorafor, CBN's Acting Director, Corporate Communications, the central bank said Skye Bank remains a healthy bank in the Nigerian banking system and indeed the health of the banking system is not in question.

Last month, the CBN carried out Board and Management changes at Skye Bank Plc due to the bank's persistent failure to meet minimum liquidity and prudential requirements. The changes ushered in Alh. M. K. Ahmad as the new Chairman of Skye Bank and Adetokunbo Abiru as the new Managing Director.

“While it will be recalled that Skye Bank had corporate governance challenges, the CBN has since taken proactive steps to resolve the issues identified. Indeed, the CBN is satisfied with the efforts of the new Management to reposition Skye Bank for effective service delivery,” Okorafor said.

Speaking with Bloomberg in July, Okorafor disclosed that the CBN had issued guarantees to Skye Bank’s depositors and creditors to demonstrate the bank’s health by extending an emergency loan to the bank.

The CBN further advised Skye Bank's customers and stakeholders to disregard any reports about the bank being in distress.

Skye Bank's stock closed at 66 kobo per share at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday, down 2.9 percent from the previous day's close.