Ebitimi Banigo is a Nigerian banker who was chief executive of International Merchant Bank of Nigeria from 1981 to 1986.
[1] Banigo briefly worked for the accounting firm of Peat Marwick, Cassleton Elliott & Company before traveling abroad to earn an undergraduate degree in economics from University at Buffalo[1] and later earned an MBA from Harvard University.
Upon his return to Nigeria, he briefly worked with the local branch of Chase Merchant Bank as the corporate finance manager.
[2] In 1988, Banigo and a group of investors started Allstates Trust Bank.
[3] In the 2000s, the bank's license was suspended and Banigo was detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission[4] on the recommendation of the Central Bank which audited the bank's financial records and alleged Banigo and his associated companies were extended loan facilities amounting to more than 35% of shareholder equity, a violation of the Bank and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) of 1991.