Banking
Skye Bank to Produce More Millionaires in Reward Scheme
By Dipo Olowookere
Skye Bank is again set to make more millionaires out of Nigerians in its repackaged ‘Reach For The Skye Millionaire’ reward, Season II.
This was disclosed in a press statement issued by the bank.
The Season II, which officially kicked off in January 2017, promises to deliver more benefits to the public compared to Season 1 of the scheme, which changed many lives and made over 36 millionaires of many erstwhile ordinary Nigerians across various segments of the economy.
Speaking about the scheme, the bank’s Executive Director, Retail and Lagos Commercial Banking, Mrs Markie Idowu, said that the scheme is intended to give back to customers and encourage savings among Nigerians.
She noted that the last season made 36 millionaires, and stressed that the scheme is not to reward the elite, but for everyone, irrespective of social status.
In addition, Mrs Idowu thanked past winners from season 1 and said the bank looks forward to producing more millionaires in the season II.
Also speaking at the launch, the bank’s Group Head of Retail Banking, Mr Ndubuisi Osakwe, gave details of the reward scheme and noted that the scheme is in recognition of the support of customers; and seeks to create several millionaires.
He noted that “the bank will also seek to continue to nurture winners and migrate them to other areas of banking products that will help them build their wealth; ensuring that the under banked and unbanked find the propositions of banking services more attractive and convenient.”
Mr Osakwe further stressed that, “The reward scheme will provide an opportunity for prospective customers of the bank to take the bold step of patronizing our numerous cost-saving products and solutions, emphasizing that “you can only save your way out of poverty”.
On the mechanics of the scheme, Mr Osakwe explained that customers who make a deposit or reactivate their accounts with N10,000 (and its multiples), and maintain same for a period of 30 days, stand a chance of becoming millionaires every month.
He added that consolation cash prizes include: N100,000 for 10 winners, N50,000 for 10 winners and N20,000 for 20 winners. Each month, more than 41 customers will be rewarded by the bank with the first 200 customers to reactivate their dormant accounts credited airtime worth of N500 within 48 hours and encouraged everyone to spread the good news.
In his testimonial, Mr Bashiru Adeyemi, an account holder with City Hall branch and one of the winners in season 1, said: “I am a pensioner resident in Lagos Island. When I heard the news that I won 1 million naira, I did not believe. It was like a joke to me. I am grateful to Skye Bank. The money came in handy as I used it to complete my house project.”
Also Mr Saheed Owolabi, an Electrician and a customer of Ajose Adeogun branch of the Bank in Lagos shared his experience: “The one million naira helped me a lot as I used it to secure 40 million naira worth of job in a building project in Lekki, Lagos.
It will be recalled that civil servants, legal practitioners, business owners, students, commercial bus drivers, Immigration Boss, among others were part of the beneficiaries of the Season 1 of the highly celebrated reward scheme which saw the Bank rewarding a total of 204 individuals – 36 Millionaires, 48 winners of N250,000 each and 120 winners of N100,000 each. The reward scheme is now improved and re-packaged for its Season II which promises to reward more customers every month.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.
The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.
The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.
They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.
They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.
The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.
In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.
The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.
After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.
“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.
“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.
“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.
“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.
“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.
This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.
“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”
Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.
He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.
“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.
“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.
A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.
It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.
The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.
Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.
He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.
Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.
He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.
He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.
At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.
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