NMRC board sacks chief executive

Dissactified with the running of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC) Plc, the board of directors has dismissed Prof. Charles Inyangete as the Managing Director/ Chief Executive and appointed a replacement in its objective to bring Nigerians affordable housing.

The Guardian learnt that the private sector-driven mortgage company was plagued by some missteps and disappointing earning results. The company is a public private partnership, with shareholder mix comprising financial Institutions, composed mainly of mortgage and commercial banks; development finance Institutions such as World Bank/IFC, Shelter Afrique and public sector/ government sponsored institutions such as Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) and Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority.

The President, Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria (MBAN), Mr. Niyi Akinlusi confirmed the development. He told The Guardian that “he was retired” after attaining the statutory retirement age of 60 years as provided for by the company policy.

However, feelers from the company revealed that due to the strategic initiatives being pursued by the erstwhile Managing Director, the board renewed his contract for two years from last year 2017. On Friday, he was asked to vacate his position in spite of the existing contract.

Sources disclosed that the board had to come to terms with the corporate governance requirements that mandated he retires effective from March 23, 2018 ahead of the renewed contract.

NMRC was incorporated on June 24, 2013 and obtained its final operating license from the Central Bank of Nigeria on February 18, 2015. The framework provides for the licensing and its establishment as a specialized non deposit taking second-tier institution, which would provide short-term liquidity, long-term funding and/or guarantees to mortgage originators and housing finance lenders.

During Inyangete tenure, NMRC successfully issued a 15-year N8 billion Series 1 Bond under its N140 billion medium term Note Programme, backed by an unconditional Federal Government of Nigeria guarantee. This is being deployed to the refinancing of the mortgage portfolio of member Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs).