Aug 19, 2009

LAGOS, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Nigerian energy firm Oando (UNIP.LG) (OAOJ.J) on Wednesday denied a central bank statement which said it had a 7.1 billion naira ($47 million) non-performing loan with Oceanic Bank (OCBK.LG).

The central bank earlier published a list of the largest defaulting customers of five banks rescued in a $2.6 billion bailout and warned the debtors to pay up or face legal action.

Oando was among more than 200 companies, individuals and state bodies identified as debtors on the list.

"In no way can our relationship with Oceanic Bank be deemed non-performing," Oando said in a statement.

"As part of our ongoing commercial relationship with Oceanic Bank Plc, we had different credit balances on our deposit account and other debit balances on our advised loans as at May 31, 2009," the statement said.

"For the avoidance of doubt, none of these debit balances represented a past due obligation," said the statement, which included a table detailing balances at the end of May and by Aug 14.

The company demanded that the central bank and Oceanic Bank correct the "erroneous impression" created.

The central bank last Friday injected 400 billion naira ($2.6 billion) into Afribank (AFRB.LG), Finbank (FIBP.LG), Intercontinental Bank (INBK.LG), Oceanic Bank (OCBK.LG) and Union Bank (UBNP.LG) and sacked their chief executives.

The banks had notched up bad loans totalling 1.14 trillion naira ($7.6 billion) and the regulator said lax governance had left them so weakly capitalised that they posed a threat to the banking system in sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy.

Nigeria's anti-graft police said they were giving defaulting debtors of the five rescued banks, who include some of the nation's most powerful tycoons, a week to organise repayment or face arrest and asset seizures. (For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: af.reuters.com/ ) (Reporting by Nick Tattersall, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

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