Fidelity Bank’s Big Changes |The Source

By Fola James

Fidelity Bank Plc has announced the appointment of two new directors to fortify its management, barely two month after the tier two bank appointed Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe as managing director/ chief executive officer designate.

Henry Obih, Non-Executive Director and Kenneth Opara, Independent Executive Director, respectively have been appointed into the board of the bank that will work with Onyeali-Ikpe who takes over from Nnamdi Okonkwo by the end of the year, as managing director and chief executive officer.

Okonkwo describes the appointment of Opara who will take over from Onyeali-Ikpe as Executive Director in charge of the Lagos & South West Directorate, as a round peg in a round hole.

“The appointment of Ken is well deserved and in line with our succession planning policy. He has made significant contributions to the growth of the Region as well as the various Divisions he has headed in the Bank,” the banks’ CEO said.

In the last two months, the forward moving deposit money bank, DMB has made some serious changes, considered by many in the sector to be in line with its vision to join the elite class of tier one banks in the country. This includes an insider trading of over 4 million shares to two directors, Obaro Odeghe and Gbolahan last month.

Odeghe purchasd 1978,500 units at N1.79 and 21,500 units at N1.80 while Joshua purchased 2,323,529 units at N1.80, according to a notice filed by Ezinwa Unuigboje, Company Secretary at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE in September.

The bank said the appointments of Obih and Opara “are in furtherance of our positioning for the next growth phase. We welcome Henry and Ken to the Board and believe they will make significant contributions that will sustain the performance trajectory of the Bank in line with our strategic intent.”

The two directors, whose appointments have been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the bank said, have robust experience in both financial and non-financial sectors of the economy that will assist them in their new roles.

Before his new appointment, Obih was the Group Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Downstream, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC until his retirement in 2019 and was subsequently appointed to the Board of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) in July 2020.

Prior to joining NNPC as GED/COO in 2016, Engr. Obih had a stellar 22-year career at Mobil Oil Nigeria (ExxonMobil Nigeria Downstream) and held several high-profile positions in the company including being Executive Director, Retail and Executive Director, Operations, Customer Service and Logistics.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN and an MBA in Financial Management from the University of Bradford, Yorkshire, England.

Opara who currently serves as General Manager/Regional Bank Head, Ikeja Region, has over 29 years’ experience in banking and worked at various financial institutions including legacy Omega Bank Plc, Equatorial Trust Bank Plc and Manny Bank Plc, before joining Fidelity Bank Plc in 2006, following its merger with Manny Bank Plc.

He attended executive management programmes at Harvard Business School, Kellogg School of Management, Wharton, INSEAD and Lagos Business School amongst others. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and an active member of the Institute’s Governing Council, where he currently serves as 1st Vice President, having previously served as 2nd Vice President and National Treasurer of the Institute.

He holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Finance and Master of Business Administration, MBA from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Ph.D. in Credit Management from International University of Panama.