Wema Bank manager jailed 18 months for loss of N8.56bn

Ebun Emmanuel – November 6, 2025

Former financial and retail product manager of Wema Bank Nigeria Plc, Samuel Asiegbu, has been sentenced to prison for loss of N8.56 billion from the bank on his watch. 

This was the judgment of Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja, who found him guilty without an option of fine and sentenced him accordingly.

He had pleaded guilty to eight counts of conspiracy, fraud and unauthorised access to a computer system under the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

The convict was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) alongside Hamza Zakaria, Nurudeen Ibrahim and Alhaji Sulaiman, for manipulating the bank’s internal systems in January 2025 to cause a financial loss of over N8.5 billion.

The anti-graft agency informed the court on 23rd June, 2025, when the defendants were first arraigned, that the offences violated Sections 409 and 386 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

All the defendants had initially pleaded not guilty to the charge.

However, Asiegbu, later changed and pleaded guilty, leading to his conviction and sentencing.

Justice Oshodi sentenced the convict to 10 months and 8 days in prison for count three and one year and 8 months for count four.

Both sentences are to run concurrently and without an option of fine.

The court struck out counts one and two.

The judge fixed November 14, 2025, for the commencement of the trial of the remaining defendants.