EXCITING NEWS: TNG WhatsApp Channel is LIVE…
Subscribe for FREE to get LIVE NEWS UPDATE. Click here to subscribe!
The Former First Bank Chairman, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, has insisted that the recently dissolved board under her leadership took the right decision in removing Dr. Adesola Adeduntan as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the bank on Wednesday.
“As a board, we acted in what we clearly believed to be in the best interest of the bank and we had great plans and aspirations for where the bank could go to in its future, building on all the work that has already been done in the last five plus years,” she said in her first reaction to the dissolution of her board by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday.
The apex bank also reinstated Adeduntan to his position, saying his removal by the former board had a dire consequence for the bank and “portends significant risks to the stability of the financial system.” The CBN said the board acted without due consultation with the regulatory authorities, especially given the systemic importance of First Bank Ltd.
“The CBN was not made aware of any report from the board indicting the Managing Director of any wrong-doing or misconduct; there appears to be no apparent justification for the precipitate removal,” it said. It immediately reconstituted the board and that of the FBN Holdco formerly headed by Mr. Oba Otudeko.
However,Awosika in a statement entitled “My FBN Group Journey,” on her Instagram page yesterday said she has “always acted in honour and integrity with the utmost interest of the institution, all our stakeholders and the nation.”
Her words: “In October 2010, I was appointed to join the board of First Bank of Nigeria. A few months later, I was appointed to chair the board of its start up FBN Life Insurance Limited (a joint venture with Sanlam of South Africa). As its pioneer chairman, I had the privilege of working with a strong management team led by Val Ojumah.
“Together with the rest of our team we built a company that became profitable in twenty four months and continues to be so. In early 2013, I was moved from FBN Life Insurance Ltd, to assume the chairmanship of FBN Capital working with a brilliant team led by Kayode Akinkugbe as the Managing Director.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We worked hard to build the institution, bought Kakawa Discount House which I was again asked by the group to chair. We eventually merged the companies to create the FBN quest Merchant Bank Group, which I chaired until my appointment as Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria on January 1st 2016.
“For over five years, I have worked with a dedicated team of board and management, with the support of Central Bank of Nigeria to rebuild and restructure the institution for its future. This included cleaning up non-performing loans, establishing good operational governance systems and processes, building controls and an effective and robust risk management system.
“I am confident we have brought First Bank of Nigeria to a place where it is more than able to deliver utmost value to its stakeholders and the nation at large. As a board, we acted in what we clearly believed to be in the best interest of the bank and we had great plans and aspirations for where the bank could go to in its future, building on all the work that has already been done in the last five plus years.
Read Also: Awosika breaks silence after sack as First Bank chair
“Without a shadow of doubt, I will unequivocally state that I have always acted in honour and integrity with the utmost interest of the institution, all our stakeholders and the nation.