Court Blocks First Bank’s Extraordinary General Meeting Again

By Adedapo Adesanya

Plans by First Bank of Nigeria to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to vote on a decision to raise N300 billion has hit another snag as a Federal High Court maintained an earlier decision on Wednesday.

In July 2022, the court barred FBN Holdings, the parent company of First Bank, from holding any annual general meeting until the conclusion of a suit filed by a shareholder, Mr Olusegun Onagoruwa, in 2021.

On April 17, Mr Onagoruwa’s lawyers asked the court to stop First Bank from holding an EGM initially scheduled for April 30.

On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, Justice Akintayo Aluko ruled that the 2022 ruling is maintained, meaning the meeting can’t be held anytime soon and the move to agree to raise fresh capital has now been put on hold again.

First Bank is part of banks mandated to raise their minimum capital requirements to N500 billion by March 2026 after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the capital base for financial institutions in the country as Nigeria aims to become a $1 trillion economy.

This drawback will deter the timeline it will take the company to raise the fresh capital, which requires shareholders’ approval at a special gathering.

Hours after the April 30 meeting was earlier cancelled, Mr Adesola Adeduntan, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of First Bank since 2015, announced his resignation on Saturday to “pursue other interests” eight months before his tenure expires in December.

The tier-one lender later appointed Mr Olusegun Alebiosu as its acting managing director, following the exit of Mr Adeduntan.

Until his appointment, Mr Alebiosu was the bank’s executive director/chief risk officer since 2022. He has been in the banking industry for nearly three decades, with expertise in credit marketing, trade, corporate and commercial banking, and credit risk management, among others.