– Affirms Dominance as He Emerges Chairman of First Bank Holdings
By Lanre Alfred
Femi Otedola is victorious now. His eventual crowning as the Chairman of First Bank Holdings (FBH) is undoubtedly a hard-won triumph.
His emergence propels to full circle, his predominance within the hallowed chambers of the first-generation financial institution.
His journey to the top didn’t lay out in flat miles. He had to duel with both hidden foes and established detractors whose joint medley of malice threatened his peace and appreciation of the odds,
But through the discordant tunes of betrayal and failure, wafted an inspiring music of hope. But to hear it, Otedola had to suppress the muddy jangle of adversarial politics and unforeseen hassles of boardroom rivals.
In the end, his efforts paid off. Thus, his crowning as the Chairman of First Bank Holdings’ board of directors.
The holding firm announced its appointment of the renowned business magnate as its head honcho in a corporate filing on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), where it notified investors about the new development.
According to FBN Holdings, Otedola, who is also the chairman of Geregu Power, was appointed after a meeting by its board of directors on January 31, 2024.
The bank said Otedola joined its board on August 15, 2023, as a non-executive director.
“FBN Holdings Plc (the Company) hereby notifies the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the investing public that at the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company held today, January 31, 2024, the Board appointed Mr. Olufemi Peter Otedola, CON as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors.
“He was appointed to the Board of FBN Holdings Plc on 15 August 2023 as a Non-Executive Director. He is a visionary entrepreneur with a track record of pioneering businesses, growing and transforming corporations,” the bank said.
Like the proverbial breeze sweeping across fortune’s marsh and the spirited meadow, Otedola has eventually established his dominance and genius in the FBH boardroom.
Some have likened him to a gale on steroids, perhaps because he stormed into reckoning untainted by the prevailing climate of bankruptcies and uncertainties.
While bankrupt bank chiefs, oil Turks, boardroom giants and veterans of industry clutched at straws, on a steady free-fall to insignificance, Otedola staged an enviable ascent on the ladder of fortune, soaring on the wings of his matchless brilliance and political depth.
Before his emergence, he faced very stiff opposition from several quarters in the FBH boardroom. Chief among his antagonists was Tunde Hassan-Odukale who competitively engaged him in a bid to emerge the
the single largest shareholder of the bank.
As the competition got intense, Otedola suddenly embraced silence as if he had been defeated. He condoned wild news of his rout without a wince. But unknown to his detractors, while they huddled to rejoice at his perceived ouster, Otedola clinically took the wind out of the sail of their pirate ship.
Like the proverbial generalissimo, who grabs victory right out of the jaws of defeat, the billionaire magnate took the fight to the faceless mafia plotting his dethronement as the largest single shareholder of FBN Holdings Plc and crushed them.
By acquiring an additional three per cent to his initial 5.07 per cent shares, Otedola stifled their hum.
No longer shall FBN Holdings Plc, deceive burnish truth in a halo of lies. Otedola, by his acquisition of an additional three per cent shares now has a total of 8.07 per cent stake in the assets of FBN, and has thus emerged as the largest single shareholder of the establishment.
It would be recalled that FBN Holdings Plc, the parent company of the First Bank of Nigeria, bellowed discordant tunes into its beleaguered boardroom, immediately after the billionaire magnate, Femi Otedola, emerged as its largest single shareholder by acquiring 5.07 per cent of its shares.
But soon after the bank denied Otedola’s new status as its majority shareholder, the bank issued a retraction of its earlier position and acknowledged that Otedola had indeed become its single largest shareholder after acquiring a 5.07 per cent stake in its holdings.
However, after its grudging admission of the truth, the bank subsequently issued a frantic recant of the truth, claiming that Tunde Hassan-Odukale was its single largest shareholder owning a 5.36 per cent stake against Otedola’s 5.07 per cent.
The FBN issued a statement signed by the company secretary, Seye Kosoko, confirming that Tunde Hassan-Odukale and Otedola are the only shareholders with more than five per cent shareholding in the company with Hassan-Odukale owning 5.36 per cent against Otedola’s 5.07 per cent.
In the wake of the bank’s frantic recent, findings revealed that it failed to represent the true picture of the situation. Investigations revealed that Hassan-Odukale had been running from pillar to post in an attempt to convince the world that he was the largest shareholder in FBN Holdings PLC.
Shareholders and other stakeholders in the bank and the Nigerian stock market were reportedly dissatisfied with FBN management’s frantic attempts to position Hassan-Odukale as its largest single shareholder, against the run of reality.
The FBN allegedly sought to advance Hassan-Odukale’s stake in its assets by adding his shares of 4.16% and 1.20% shares which he holds in trust for the public through his company, as one personal investment.
Worried by the bank and Hassan-Odukale’s subterfuge, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) queried FBN asking it to explain why it chose to classify the shareholdings of Hassan-Odukale into two parts of 4.16% and 1.20% respectively rather than as a single unit.
But immediately after Otedola increased the value of his shares to 8.07 per cent of the bank’s shares, Hassan-Odukale and his backers had no choice but to accept the reality of his dominance as the financial establishment’s largest and most influential single shareholder.
Otedola, who recently expressed his excitement about his return to the Forbes African Billionaires list after a seven-year hiatus, takes over from the outgoing Chairman of the board, Alhaji Ahmad Abdullahi.
He shared a picture of the announcement on his Instagram page and wrote “Interesting” while adding a smiley and dollar emojis.
The entrepreneur currently sits at number 20 on the list with a net worth of $1.1bn.
