Battle For The Soul Of First Bank Thickens As Uncomfortable Shareholders Plot Removal Of Otedola As Chairman

Some shareholders are calling on CBN to speak up on the raging boardroom crisis in Nigeria’s oldest financial institution.

The battle for the soul of First Bank continues with a fresh row over an alleged bid by the chairman of the holding company, Femi Otedola to launch a N350 billion private placement. The development is generating unease in the bank, with shareholders kicking against the plan, while calling for an emergency general meeting.

The call for an emergency general meeting is being seen as a plot to remove the chairman, whose leadership style some shareholders appear to be uncomfortable with. Some of the shareholders are said to be displeased with recent changes in the management and the easing out of some senior staff believed to be non-cooperative.

However, the latest was the alleged clandestine move to launch a private placement as against the ongoing rights issue.

The parent company of the bank, FBN Holdings Co, is in the process of raising N150 billion through a rights issue as part of the ongoing recapitalisation directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

While the rights issue is yet to be concluded amidst pending allotment of shares, shareholders said they were shocked to hear of a move to launch a private placement.

According to the shareholders, the move to launch a private placement was intended to confer advantage on the chairman against existing shareholders.

On Thursday, Norsworthy Investment Limited, one of the shareholders of the bank linked to Gabriel Ogbechie, in a letter to the company secretary of First Bank, Adewale Arogundade, expressed “grave concern” over the move to launch a private placement.

While there has not been any official communication from either the bank or Otedola himself, some shareholders are calling on the regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to speak up on the raging boardroom crisis in Nigeria’s oldest financial institution.

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