Billionaire Femi Otedola has become First Bank Nigeria Largest Shareholder.
Newsonline reports that Nigerian billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola has acquired First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial services provider largest share after he bought about N30 billion worth of shares from the financial institution.
An exclusive report monitored on The Street Journal by Newsonline Nigeria, says Femi Otedola has acquired First Bank highest share with the 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.
Newsonline recalls that when that Otedola divested his 75% direct and indirect share holding 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.
At the time, Newsonline recalls that 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.
As at the time of filing this report, News Online understands that First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial services provider which was awarded the 2021 ‘’Retail Banking CEO of the Year Nigeria’’, ‘’Most innovative Retail Banking App Nigeria’’ and ‘’Best CSR Bank Nigeria’’ awards by Global Banking and Finance magazine are yet to make the notice official.
