Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
A few days ago, it was reported that a crisis was brewing in the board of Jaiz Bank Plc over who will succeed the current Managing Director, Mr Hassan Usman.
The tenure of Mr Usman is ending soon and there were speculations that Mr Muhammad Shaheed Khan was being put forward as his successor.
However, the board was divided over the matter as one half believed that Mr Usman was capable of still leading the company, while the other half was of the opinion that it was time to get a fresh leadership. At last, the push for Mr Khan to replace Mr Usman was relaxed.
Reacting to the issue, Jaiz Bank denied having any boardroom crisis, explaining that members of the board were just exercising their legitimate divergent opinions on a matter in the ordinary course of their duties.
“The matter of succession for the current Managing Director was considered by the board as the expiration of his contract approached.
“Whereas some directors of the bank opined that a change of leadership was required to pursue some critical strategic goals, others believed otherwise, given the very impressive performance of the current management.
“The board nevertheless resolved to appoint a new successor in the person of Mr Muhammed Shaheed Khan. This decision was, however, rescinded at a subsequent meeting of the board.
“Some board members felt that the approval obtained from relevant regulator materially modified the intention of the board as expressed in the conditional offer to Mr Khan, necessitating the decision to discontinue the process of his appointment,” the lender said in a statement signed by its scribe, Mrs Rukayat Dahiru.
Recall that earlier last month, the financial institution had said it was looking to raise N10 billion through a private placement. However, when the firm had its extraordinary general meeting late in the month, only N3.3 billion was approved and according to the statement from the bank, this is “a testimony to the absence of a rift in the board.”
“Jaiz Bank assured its customers, shareholders, investing public and other stakeholders that the board remains committed to conducting its affairs within the stipulations of existing corporate governance codes for banks and public companies in Nigeria,” the statement concluded.
