Banking
Union Bank to Grow Retail Customer Base Despite N5.9tr Legal Battle
By Dipo Olowookere
Tier-2 lender, Union Bank of Nigeria, has expressed its desire to focus more on improving its retail customer base as it forges ahead in the year.
Managing Director of the financial institution, Mr Emeka Emuwa, while speaking at the firm’s 49th Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja on Tuesday, disclosed that Union Bank was now in pole position to execute its growth agenda from 2018 onwards.
According to him, “Strengthening our capital base through the Rights Issue was key for the bank in 2017.
“Notwithstanding the challenges a tightened economy presented, the rights issue was 20 percent oversubscribed.”
He attributed this overwhelming success to “strong shareholder and investor confidence in Union Bank’s immediate and longer-term plans.”
The bank chief said, “With sufficient capital buffers, we are now in pole position to execute our growth agenda from 2018 onwards.”
“Operationally, we continued to focus on growing our retail customer base and optimising customer experience with simpler, smarter banking solutions,” he added.
“We launched an upgraded suite of digital channels including UnionMobile, UnionOnline and our unique USSD banking code *826#, driving an increase in active subscribers above 100 percent on the mobile app and online banking platforms.
“Union Bank’s alternative banking platform remains the fastest growing in the industry. We continue to attract broad segments of new customers, adding 90 percent more new-to bank customers in 2017 compared to 2016,” Mr Emuwa said further.
A breakdown of Union Bank’s results for the 2017 financial year showed that the lender reported a profit before tax (PBT) of N15.5 billion and a profit after tax of N14.6 billion.
The bank also achieved gross earnings of N163.8 billion with the operating expenses increasing to N65.1 billion from N62 billion in 2016 due to inflationary pressures and the impact of devaluation on technology and network investments.
Furthermore, interest income grew by 25 percent to N124.5 billion from N99.7 billion in 2016, as a result of the impact of Naira devaluation on the foreign currency denominated loan book, government securities yields and loan book repricing.
Non-interest revenue also moved up by 31 percent to N39.3 billon from N29.9 billion in 2016, driven by improved fee and commission income, trading income and a more effective debt recovery machine.
In addition, gross loans grew by five percent to N560.7 billion compared with N535.8 billion in 2016, while customer deposits rose by 22 percent to N802.4 billion from N658.4 billion in 2016, continuing its upward trajectory since 2016.
The growth was led by investments in customer-led products, recently upgraded alternate channels, along with a strengthened brand.
Union Bank’s annual report showed that the bank has a non-performing loan ratio of 19.78 percent of a total N517.1 billion at the end of the financial year under review.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Union Bank, Mr Cyril Odu, who presented the financial institution’s report to shareholders, said the lender was involved in 850 litigation cases with the amount claimed to total N220.26 billion.
However, he added that the total amount claimed in cases instituted by Union Bank in court amounted to N77.17 billion.
According to him, “A total provision of N2.98 billion has been made based on the advice of professional legal counsel.”
In its financial statements, Union Bank said, “There are three cases with total claim of N5.921 trillion of which judgement was awarded against the Bank in conjunction with other parties and provisions were not recognised in the financial statements.
“Management is of the view that a high level of success is expected at the Court of Appeal based on professional legal advice and that the likelihood of outflow of economic resource is considered remote.
“The Directors are of the opinion that none of the aforementioned cases is likely to have a material adverse effect on the Bank and are not aware of any other pending or threatened claims and litigations besides those included in the above number.”
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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