Access Bank Plc Shareholders have approved the Board of Directors’ changes at its banking subsidiary in furtherance to the completion of the Scheme of Arrangement between the bank and holders of its fully paid ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.
The completion of the Scheme of Arrangement resulted in the listing of Access Holdings Plc and related companies on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX Limited.
The Holdco structure means the lender now has the latitude to diversify into other financial services outside its core banking operations at a time depressed earnings from commercial banking is forcing Nigerian banks to diversify or expand, a luxury not available under the former model.
The Holdco mode allows the parent company to hold a controlling stake in all the subsidiaries under its purview without interference in their everyday running.
It also frees each of the companies in the group from the liability or debt settlement obligation of another company in the event that the latter becomes insolvent.
Access Bank said on Monday in a statement signed by Mr Sunday Ekwochi, its Group Company Secretary, that the board has appointed Mr Roosevelt Ogbonna as Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the bank, while Mr Victor Etuokwu, was named Deputy Managing Director, Retail North.
Similarly, Mrs Chizoma Okoli, becomes Deputy Managing Director, Retail South.
The statement noted that the three appointments had been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and would be effective May 2, 2022.
It also announced the resignation of Mr Adeolu Bajomo as Executive Director, Information Technology and Operations with effect from September 30, 2022, following his decision to pursue other personal interests.
The statement added that the appointment underscores the effectiveness of the Group’s robust succession planning arrangement and follows the appointment of the incumbent, Dr Herbert Wigwe, as the Group Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Access Holdings Plc.
“Ogbonna has been the bank’s Deputy Managing Director since 2017. Before then, he was appointed Executive Director, Commercial Banking Division, in October 2013.
“The bank chief is a thorough-bred and consummate professional with over two decades of banking experience having joined Access Bank in 2002 from Guaranty Trust Bank,” Ekwochi noted in the statement.
The statement noted further that Etuokwu was appointed an Executive Director of the bank in 2012 and his appointment was renewed in 2022 following the expiration of his second term.
Etuokwu holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Ibadan and the University of Benin respectively and has attended several executive education programmes in prestigious institutions including Oxford Business School.
According to the statement, Okoli is a seasoned professional with approximately three decades of robust banking experience.
She commenced her professional career in 1992 as an Executive Trainee in the defunct Diamond Bank Plc where she distinguished herself and rapidly rose through the ranks to become an Executive Director in 2016.
Okoli’s robust experience cuts across commercial and consumer banking; corporate banking; branch banking, institutional banking, business banking and business development.
She obtained a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Benin and a Master’s in Business Administration from Warwick Business School, United Kingdom.
She is an Honorary Senior Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and a Member of the Institute of Credit Administration of Nigeria.
Access Bank completed the last mile of its evolution to a holding company on Monday, with its entire 35.5 billion outstanding shares delisted from the daily official list of the Nigerian Exchange and relisted under a new parent company to be known as Access Holdings PLC.
Access Holdings, through the transition, joins the fray of FBN Holdings, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, the FCMB Group as well as Guaranty Trust Holding Company, which all have earlier adopted the structure.
Sterling Bank is also close to consummating a similar transformation.
