By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The Deputy Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Wema Bank Plc, Mr Moruf Oseni, has been elevated to the position of the MD/CEO following the retirement of Mr Ademola Adebise.

In a statement on Friday, the bank said Mr Adebise will retire from his current position on March 31, 2023. However, he will be proceeding on terminal leave from January 2, 2023.

The outgoing MD/CEO of Wema Bank joined the board of the financial institution over 13 years ago. He took over the helms of affairs in June 2018 from Mr Segun Oloketuyi.

Under his leadership, Mr Adebise has expanded the lender’s footprints to other locations in Nigeria, improving the performance of the bank and spearheading the first dividend payment in 13 years.

Since then, he has ensured consistent dividend payments over the last four years, with the organisation growing its total assets by 155 per cent from N470 billion to over N1.2 trillion and deposits growing by 214 per cent from N350 billion to N1.1 trillion.

He initiated the partnership with the Bank of Africa to support its customers across the African continent, which has increased the bank’s market share and customer base. All these led to an additional growth of 2 million customer accounts in Nigeria and a market share of 3 per cent of industry volumes.

Wema Bank is now the leading collection bank for state and government agencies due to its effective and efficient platform. Its rating by agencies was upgraded to BBB investment grade.

Further, the bank significantly changed the digital landscape through the ALAT platform. The innovative platform also came top in the KPMG Digital Scorecard for leading retail banks in Nigeria, and this was based on in-depth insights into the state of user experience on retail banks’ digital channels.

In addition, the bank launched the first SME Business School for capacity building and empowerment of SMEs – this has benefitted over 20,000 small businesses. Wema Bank also became one of the founding members of the United Nations Environmental plan for financial institutions (UNEP- FI) and continues to provide digital solutions for societal impact.

The Chairman of the board, Mr Babatunde Kasali, in a statement, thanked Mr Adebise on behalf of the board and management for his service and wished him the best in his future endeavours.

Meanwhile, the appointment of Mr Oseni as the MD/CEO of Wema Bank is subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Mr Oseni joined Wema Bank in June 2012 as an Executive Director. He has over 25 years of experience, with more than 16 years at senior and executive management levels. The banker was an executive director for six years and DMD for the last four years and has demonstrated the capacity to lead the bank.

He presently has responsibility for the Digital Optimization Directorate, which includes the Digital, Retail, Treasury, Operations, and Technology Divisions.

Mr Oseni is also the Executive Compliance Officer of the bank and supervised the launch of ALAT.

Before joining Wema Bank, he was the CEO of MG Ineso Limited, a principal investment and financial advisory firm. Prior to MG Ineso, he was a Vice President at Renaissance Capital and an Associate at Salomon Brothers/Citigroup Global Markets in London.

The new MD/CEO holds an MBA degree from the Institut European d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) in France, a Master’s in Finance (MiF) from the London Business School and a B.Sc. in Computer Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He is also an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program (AMP) of the Harvard Business School and King’s College, Lagos.

Also, Wema Bank has appointed Mr Wole Akinleye as the new DMD. He has over 32 years of banking experience and presently oversees Corporate Banking and South West Business Directorate for the company.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program of the Harvard Business School. He obtained his first degree in Accounting from Obafemi Awolowo University in 1989 and, subsequently, a master’s degree in Business Administration (Finance) from the same University.

Further, Wema Bank has appointed Mr Tunde Mabawonku as an executive director. He has over 23 years of experience and is presently the Chief Finance Officer and the Divisional Head of Finance & Corporate Services.

He has a master’s in finance from the London Business School and a first degree in Economics from the University of Ibadan. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) & Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) and an honorary member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (HCIB).

These appointments, according to the financial institution, take effect from April 1, 2023, and are subject to the approval of the CBN and other regulatory authorities.