Billionaire Femi Otedola, has been appointed the Chairman of FBN Holdings, the parent company of Nigeria’s premier commercial bank, First Bank Nigeria, FBN.
The financial behemoth made his appointment known in a disclosure filed on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX, on Wednesday.
According to the bank, the businessman has been elected by the board of the bank following the departure of Ahmad Abdullahi, the former holder of the position.
Otedola is coming to the position barely two years after he swore never to take up position in the board of the bank.
He made the assertion during the contest between him and a former chairman of the bank, Oba Otudeko to purchase the controlling shares of the bank in 2021 with the aim of taking it over.
The magazine had reported insiders’ suggestion that Otedola was planning to beat Otudeko in his own game of plotting to return to the bank where he once held sway as chairman before he was sacked by embattled former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele over alleged abuse of office, insider trading, and illegal removal of Adesola Kazeem Adeduntan as FBN Limited Managing Director.
Otedola had committed N45 billion to purchase 2,717,282,140 shares in the group with the intention of upturning the apple’s cart against his major rival, Otudeko.
He however denied the alleged move, saying he was on his way to retirement from boardroom scheming, stressing that he preferred professionals to be in charge of the bank.
He was simply grandstanding as events have now clearly indicated.
He said: “I am simply an investor who saw an opportunity in the financial institution and decided to take advantage of it through the investment I have made.
“My interest, contrary to speculations is not to become chairman of the bank or its holdco. Moreover, I am in semi-retirement.”
“Being the single largest shareholder doesn’t mean I must necessarily hold a position in the bank. I believe in allowing competent people run institutions in a professional manner and to the benefit of all the stakeholders.”
Keen stakeholders in the industry informed the magazine after his appointment was announced yesterday that it has nursed ‘serious’ to take over the bank from the onset, notwithstanding his denial.
The business mogul who recently shelled out over N6 billion to purchase shares in Dangote Cement, insiders stressed, has become bullish in his quest to have a pie in major sectors of the economy.
“Recall that he was technically edged out from taking over Transcorp by Elumelu who quickly increased his shares in the power firm, thereby stopping Otedola from overthrowing him. The power, banking and manufacturing sectors are Otedola’s targets, according to insiders, in his quest to maintain his position as one of Nigeria’s richest men.
According to Forbes Businessmen Index released early in January, Otedola was racked alongside Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, and Abdulrahman Abdulsamad as Nigeria’s fourth richest man with a net worth of $1.1 billion.
