First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc (FBNH), the holding company of First Bank Nigeria Limited, has finally put to rest the speculations that ensued late last week over the ownership of the largest shares in the company.
The FBNH has confirmed that the Chairman of First Bank, Mr. Tunde Hassan-Odukale is the single-largest shareholder in the company, contrary to claims which had suggested that a Nigerian business mogul, Mr. Femi Otedola is the single largest shareholder of the FBN.
Last week, reports had emerged that Otedola may soon take over FBNH as he had acquired a total of N30billion worth of shares. However, FBNH denied the reports, saying it had not received any notification about the said N30 billion worth of shares bought by Odetola.
Few hours later, the FBNH in a statement filed to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) confirmed it received notification that Otedola acquired 5% equity shares in the company, though significant but not the majority shares. With the confirmation, many had speculated that Otedola holds the single-largest shareholder in the company.
However, the FBNH in a letter issued by its secretary, Seye Kosoko, and addressed to the Director-General of the Nigerian Exchange Limited, revealed that Hassan-Odukale outpaced Otedola to acquire the single-largest shareholder in the company.
According to the letter, Hassan-Odukale has controlling shares in the company with a 5.36 per cent while Otedola owns 5.07 per cent.
The letter showed that Hassan-Odukale acquired most of his shareholding in FBNH in 2021. Breakdown of the data indicated that Hassan-Odukale’s direct shares in the company is 26,231,887 units, while he indirectly owns 1,897,280,212 units in the financial holding company.
