Did the First Bank of Nigeria, a first-generation bank know the implication of stirring the bee’s nest? That was what the bank did last week when they decided to relieve Dr. Adesola Kazeem Adeduntan of his duties as the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank.
An Ibadan man to the core, Adedutan hails from Ibadan, the administrative headquarters of the southern part of Nigeria, where ‘sons of the soil’ believe in a myth that “when your time is not up, fate will fight for you”. This probably came to play in favour of the Vet. Doctor turned Banker, who had all odds in his favour, when the bank he supervised sacked him.
Last week, at the thick of a dense controversy surrounding his removal, the Central Bank of Nigeria reinstated Dr. Sola Adeduntan as MD/CEO of First Bank Ltd as his removal raised rage in the financial industry. The Godwin Emefiele led Central Bank of Nigeria pressured the bank behind the scenes to reinstate Adeduntan against the wishes of the Board of Directors of the bank. As the banking sector regulator, the CBN approves appointments of Bank MD/CEOs. This is not the first time CBN will interfere in such an impasse, but it was never precedent that the Apex bank will interfere in decisions by an old bank like FBN. In the past, CBN has removed MD/CEOs of banks and has gone as far as firing the entire Board of the banks. But such cases were often preceded by a crisis in the bank and followed by the nationalization of the bank. First Bank is neither in a crisis nor being nationalized.The Central Bank of Nigeria had issued the Board of First Bank Ltd, one of Nigeria’s oldest banks a query for the removal of its CEO citing failure of the bank to obtain its approval.
Dr. Adeduntan whose achievements at the First Bank of Nigeria are unprecedented, has no doubt made an indelible mark in the bank, as its MD/CEO. He succeeded Bisi Onasanya as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank of Nigeria Limited and its commercial banking subsidiaries (FBN UK, FBN Ghana, FBN DRC, FBN Guinea, FBN Gambia, FBN Mortgages, FBN Insurance and First Pension Custodian Limited) in January 2016.
In July 2014, Sola joined FirstBank and was appointed an Executive Director/Group Chief Financial Officer of the bank, where he was responsible for the bank’s financial control, internal control and enhancement, business performance management, treasury and procurement functions. After his appointment, Adeduntan was able to bring on board new ideas as the bank’s CFO.
He currently sits on the board of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, and as a non-executive director; on the boards of the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS); Africa Finance Corporation (AFC); FBN Bank U.K. Ltd.; Universal Payments Plc.; and FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange.
Corroborating this fact, CBN argued that the tenure of Mr Adedutan was yet to expire (bank MD’s have a maximum 10 years) and that they were also not aware of any misconduct of the former MD and as such there was no justification for his removal.
Though sources in First Bank insist that the bank has a policy of replacing its MD/CEO’s every 6 years and maintained it did not break any CBN rules.
As the CEO of the Bank, Adeduntan has carted in many awards for First Bank of Nigeria, such as “First financial institution in Nigeria to achieve 100 million sustained monthly transactions in Electronic Payment” in December 2015 and again in May 2016. Interswitch.
He also won “Most valuable banking brand” for the 6th consecutive times in 2017 by The Banker Magazine of the Financial Times; “Digital Bank of Distinction, Nigeria” award by the Global Finance magazine for the 2nd consecutive time in 2017; ´Best Retail Bank in Nigeria” for the 7th consecutive time by the renowned Asian Banker Awards in 2018.
Under his watch the Bank also won “The Best Bank in Nigeria” for the 15th time by the Global Finance Magazine. Also, in 2018.
In 2016 Adesola Adeduntan was awarded the “Banker Of The Year 2016” by the Leadership (newspaper) “For refusing to ‘go with the flow’ even when the temptation was high and the reward substantial, and for reminding his colleagues that banking is nothing without integrity”. He won the bank 2019 “Best Mobile Banking App” and “Fastest Growing Retail Bank” winner by Global Business Outlook and numerous other awards in 2019.
To describe him as an enigma is an understatement. He combines his prowess as an astute banker with humour, with staff members, which has encouraged team-work in the bank.
Many of the bank staff members, and his colleagues in the financial world attest to his generosity and readiness to help. Through his good deeds, Adeduntan has moulded so many bankers, who today are also top-notch in the industry.
At this juncture, we can only wish Dr. Adeduntan, whose renewed tenure can be related to the proverbial cat with nine lives, the best as he continues to steer the ship of First Bank of Nigeria.
Olamide Adeniji is a member of the editorial board of TheScript Newspapers
