Sacked First Bank of Nigeria chairman, Mrs Ibukun Awosika, has broken the silence following her removal by Central Bank of Nigeria.
Recall that CBN on Thursday in a swift reaction to FBN’s removal of the then Managing Director, Mr Adesola Adeduntan, sacked the entire board and that of the holding company, FBN Holdings Plc.
Mrs Awosika, however, in a statement on her Instagram page, revealed that the move to sack Adeduntan and replace same with Mr Shobo was done in good faith and in the best interest of the bank.
According to her, “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.”
Find below a full text of her statement.
MY FIRST BANK NIGERIA JOURNEY
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 24 months and continues to do 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.
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 FBN on January 1, 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 FirstBank 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.
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.
