The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday announced the immediate removal of all directors of First Bank of Nigeria Ltd. and FBN Holdings Plc over purported management changes at the bank.
The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emeifele said this in a statement titled “The Purported Management Change at the First Bank of Nigeria Ltd.
Consequently, Emeifele announced the appointment of Mr Remi Babalola as the Chairman of FBN Holdings.
Other directors appointed by the apex bank were Dr Fatade Abiodun Oluwole, Kofo Dosekun
Remi Lasaki, Dr Alimi Abdulrasaq, Ahmed Modibbo ,Khalifa Imam and Sir Peter Aliogo.
Emefiele, however, retained Mr UK Eke as the holding company’s Managing Director.
On the other hand, Mr Tunde Hassan-Odukale was appointed as the Chairman of FirstBank.
The CBN returned Dr Sola Adeduntan as the bank’s Managing Director, Mr Gbenga Shobo as the Deputy Managing Director.
Mr Remi Oni and Abdullahi Ibrahim were announced as Executive Directors.
Other directors are Tokunbo Martins, Uche Nwokedi , Adekunle Sonola, Isioma Ogodazi, Ebenezer Olufowose and Ishaya Elijah B. Dodo.
He said the management of the CBN, in line with its powers under BOFIA 2020 approved and took the action following a review of the situation and in order to preserve stability of the bank to protect minority shareholders and depositors.
“As you may be aware, FBN is one of the systemically important banks in the Nigerian banking sector given its historical significance, balance sheet size, large customer base and high level of interconnectedness with other financial service providers, amongst others.
“By our last assessment, FBN has over 31million customers, with deposit base of N4.2 trillion, shareholders’ funds of N618 billion and NIBSS instant payment (NIP) processing capacity of 22 per cent of the industry.
“To us at the CBN, not only is it imperative to protect the minority shareholders, that have no voice to air their views, also important, is the protection of the over 31million customers of the bank who see FBN as a safe haven for their hard-earned savings,” he said.
