Following the arrest of its Managing
Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO), Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Fidelity Bank Plc
monday announced the appointment of its Executive Director North, Alhaji
Mohammed Lawal Balarabe, as its acting MD/CEO.
The appointment was announced after a board meeting which ended last night.
A two-paragraph statement at the end of
the meeting said Balarabe’s appointment, which took effect last night,
was subject to regulatory approval even as the bank assured its
stakeholders of continued seamless services.
“In the absence of the Managing
Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, the Board of
Directors has appointed Alhaji Mohammed Lawal Balarabe, Executive
Director North as Acting Managing Director/Chief Executive of Fidelity
Bank Plc with immediate effect subject to regulatory approval,” it said,
adding: “The bank reassures all its stakeholders including over 400,000
shareholders and 3.4 million customers of its continued seamless
services.”
The EFCC had arrested Fidelity Bank’s
MD/CEO for allegedly receiving $115 million in lodgements from the
former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, and
disbursed the funds to politicians in the build-up to the 2015
presidential election that was lost by former President Goodluck
Jonathan.
The bank in a statement last Thursday
had explained that the transaction was reported to the regulator and
that it was cooperating with the EFCC in its investigations.
Balarabe holds a Bachelor’s degree in
Accountancy and Finance from Nottingham Trent University, UK, as well as
an MSc in Finance from the University of Lagos.
A dealing member of the Nigerian Stock
Exchange (NSE) since 1992, he was an Executive Director with the former
Oceanic Bank Plc. He was also a General Manager in United Bank for
Africa (UBA) and had been the General Manager and Chief Executive of
Newdevco Finance Services Company Limited.
He has over 24 years banking experience across business portfolios in banking.
He was appointed to the Board of Fidelity Bank Plc in April, 2012.
According to the audited 2015 full year
results of the bank, its gross earnings grew from N136.9 billion in 2014
to N146.9 billion in 2015. Profit before tax (PBT) declined by 9.6 per
cent to N14.0 billion from N15.5 billion in 2014, while profit after tax
(PAT) settled at N13.9 billion compared with N13.8 billion the previous
year.
The directors, therefore, recommended a
dividend of N4.6 billion, thus maintaining a tradition of consistent
dividend pay-out for the past six years.
Total equity increased by 6.0 per cent
to N183.5 billion from N173.1 billion in 2014 full year, net operating
income stood at N83.9 billion, a moderate 12.5 per cent rise from N74.6
billion in 2014 full year, growing the major income lines across the
quarters.
Assessing the performance of the bank,
analysts at Renaissance Capital said Fidelity’s numbers had shown
significant resilience versus its tier two peers, most of which had
announced profit warnings for 2015.
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