Billionaire Femi Otedola Takes Over First Bank Nigeria

Billionaire Femi Otedola has taken over First Bank Nigeria.

Nigerian billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola has today, Friday, October 22, 2021, taken over First Bank of Nigeria Plc.

This was gathered in an exclusive report on The Street Journal which reveals Femi Otedola took over First Bank with his recent acquisition of about N30 billion worth of shares, making him the single largest shareholder of the bank.

According to the report, Otedola being the largest shareholder means he holds the highest voting shares and can dictate the direction of the bank through his voting power.

News Rain Nigeria recalls that when that Otedola divested his 75% direct and indirect shareholding in Forte Oil, via a merger of his company Zenon Oil and former African Petroleum in 2019, the decision raised questions as to why he made such a decision especially because of the lucrative nature of the oil and gas sector.

Billionaire Femi Otedola Takes Over First Bank Nigeria

At the time, Otedola had announced that he wanted to explore and maximize business opportunities in refining and petrochemicals.

Otedola singled out First Bank despite having investments in the real estate and financial sector, for the single reason that there wasn’t exactly one man calling the shots there, unlike in other new generation banks, the report added.

Meanwhile, Otedola wasted no time in taking advantage of the leadership crisis that rocked First Bank not too long ago that led to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sacking both the chairman of the bank, Ibukun Awosika, and Obafemi Otudeko, the chairman of FBN Holdings.