CBN sacks all FirstBank’s directors, reinstates ousted MD, Adedotun

The Central Bank of Nigeria has sacked the entire members of the board of First Bank of Nigeria and the FBN Holdings.

Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, announced this on Thursday via live broadcast from the CBN HQ in Abuja.

Emefiele, who cited insider abuse, insider credit and breakdown of corporate governance as reasons for the apex bank’s action, immediately named replacements for the sacked directors.

He also announced that Dr Sola Adeduntan had been reinstated as the managing director of the First Bank’s interim board.

The CBN had earlier queried the First Bank over the appointment of Gbenga Shobo as a new MD of the bank, saying the action was done without the approval of the apex bank.

The CBN also claimed that the tenure of the ousted Adedutan had yet to expire and as such, there was no justification for his removal.

In a press briefing on Thursday evening, Emefiele stated that the apex bank had been keeping close tabs on First Bank Nigeria over the past five years having discovered that the bank was in “grave financial condition with its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) and non-performing loans ratio (NPL) substantially breaching acceptable prudential standards.”

He also said, “The insiders, who took loans in the bank, with controlling influence on the board of directors, failed to adhere to the terms for the restructuring of their credit facilities which contributed to the poor financial state of the bank.

“The CBN’s recent target examination as at December 31, 2020 revealed that insider loans were materially non-compliant with restructure terms (eg non perfection of lien on shares/collateral arrangements) for over three years despite several regulatory reminders.

“The bank has not also divested its non-permissible holdings in non-financial entities in line with regulatory directives.”

Meanwhile, the CBN through a number of tweets on Thursday reassured “First Bank of Nigeria depositors, creditors and other stakeholders of the bank of its commitment to ensure the stability of the financial system.”

It gave a list of members of the newly constituted interim board of the FBN Holdings as Remi Babalola (chairman), Fatade Abiodun Oluwole, Kofo Dosekun, Remi Lasaki, Dr Alimi Abdulrasaq, Ahmed Modibbo, Khalifa Imam, Sir Peter Aliogo, UK Eke (Managing Director).

For the First Bank of Nigeria, the team comprises (Chairman – Tunde Hassan-Odukale), Tokunbo Martins, Uche Nwokedi, Adekunle Sonola, Isioma Ogodazi, Ebenezer Olufowose, Ishaya Elijah B. Dodo, Sola Adeduntan (Managing Director) and Gbenga Shobo (Deputy Managing Director), Remi Oni (Executive Director) and Abdullahi Ibrahim (Executive Director).