Nigeria’s Apex Bank, moved against the board of First bank of Nigeria, the country’s oldest lender and third largest by assets. in a press conference last night, Governor of Central Bank (CBN), Godwin Emiefele, announced the removal of the board of FBN Holdings Plc and its main subsidiary First Bank Nigeria Ltd, for appointing a new CEO, without regulatory approval.
The reinstated CEO, Mr Adesola Adeduntan, who is due to retire in December this year. was initially removed by the sacked board and replaced by Gbenga Shobo. Mr Shobo has been sacked by Central Bank.
According to the CBN Governor, the reinstatement and appointment of a new board is for the protection minority shareholders and customers. Central Bank has worked with Mr Adeduntan since 2016, to restore the bank to healthy position after accumulation of bad loans that threatened its existence.
First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) has over 31 million customers, N4.2 trillion in deposits and 22% share of Nigeria’s instant payment processing capacity, Emefiele said.
