First Bank: Otedola’s Next Move

By Fola James

Business mogul, Femi Otedola has been fingered in the ongoing move to take over First Bank Nigeria Holding, FBHN, according to a report by Nairametrics.

Otedola, one of Nigeria’s most respected businessmen with a net worth of $1.8 Billion by Forbes 2020 ranking, has registered strong presence in some of the country’s most lucrative businesses such as oil and gas, and has recently ventured in the power sector by acquiring the Geregu Power Plant under a joint venture partnership with the State Grid Corporation of China/Shanghai Municipal Electric Corporation.

His decision to venture into banking, therefore, did not come as a surprise to many who have watched his trajectory over the years as a suave divestor; first from diesel marketing to power and now banking.

 According to details of the report, Otedola who once owned African Petroleum, AP has been mopping up the shares of the bank for months, directly and through proxies at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE and is presently at the verge of becoming the single largest shareholder. His combined shares in the bank are now said to be more than five per cent, which by CBN guidelines gives him controlling power over the financial congloromate.

The current shareholders’ structure of the bank, according to its 2020 Financial Report indicates that Otudeko, Mike Adenuga, Globacom founder and Hasan Odukale are major shareholders of the company, each of them with less than five per cent shareholding.

If everything proceeds as planned and Otedola takes over the ownership of the tier one bank, he would have become the major gainer of the crisis that has rocked the over 120 years old bank, which climaxed with the sack of its former board, under the leadership of Mrs Dere Awosika and Oba Otudeko early this year.

The Godwin Emefiele-led apex bank had in April sacked the boards of FBHN and First Bank Nigeria Limited following the botched removal of Dr. Sola Adeduntan as the managing director and chief executive officer of First Bank Limited.

While announcing the sack of the former board, Emefiele said the apex bank is a major stakeholder of the bank because “CBN considers itself a key stakeholder in management changes involving FBN due to the forbearances and close monitoring by the Bank over the last 5 years aimed at stemming the slide in the going concern status of the bank.

“For the CBN to learn through media reports that the board of directors of FBN, a systemically important bank under regulatory forbearance regime had effected sweeping changes in executive management without engagement and/or prior notice to the regulatory authorities.

“The action by the board of FBN sends a negative signal to the market on the stability of leadership on the board and management and it is in light of the foregoing that the CBN queried the board of directors on the unfortunate developments at the bank.

The apex bank said it took the action to preserve the investment of shareholders of the bank.

“By our last assessment, FBN has over 31m customers, with a deposit base of N4.2 trillion, shareholders’ funds of N618 billion and NIBSS instant payment (NIP) processing capacity of 22% of the industry.

“To us at the CBN, not only is it imperative to protect the minority shareholders, that have no voice to air their views, also important, is the protection of the over 31m customers of the bank who see FBN as a safe haven for their hard-earned savings.,” Emefiele said.

The apex bank constituted new boards headed by Remi Babalola as Chairman of the Holdco while Tunde Hassan was named as the Chairman of FBL.

Meanwhile, keen stakeholders in the financial sector said the question is not whether Otedola’s plan to take over FBHN structure will materialize, considering that it has the backing of the apex bank, but, it is whether the new owners will still agree to retain the structure put in place by the CBN when they eventually assumed ownership of one of Nigeria’s largest banks.