The shareholders, who protested at the Head office of FBNH at Marina Lagos, decry the move by some individuals seeking a court injunction to restrain the leadership of the bank from holding its 2022 yearly general meeting and raising capital for the bank’s expansion.
Chairman, Trusted Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Muktar Muktar, while speaking on behalf of other minority shareholders lamented that some individuals are trying to hinder the growth of the bank.
“We are here to register our displeasure, our discontentment, our disapproval and rejection of the attempt by some shareholders to disrupt the AGM of FBN from holding and ensure that some resolutions will not be passed. There are strong suspicion and allegations that Oba Otudeko is oiling the crisis
“They want FirstBank not to consider raising more capital and not to appoint some directors to the board of the bank. It is very improper. It is not right that people that have benefited from the political economy of this country are the ones holding the institutions to ransom.
“So, I think those people that have gone to court to stop the AGM from holding knows that it is illegal. Annual General Meetings (AGM) are statutory meetings, nobody can stop them. Nobody can stop any activity from holding. We have instances from the past whereby some aggrieved individuals, parties or shareholders approached the court to stop the conduct of the AGM. But the judges told them that this is a statutory meeting; they cannot stop.
“If there is no capital, the business will collapse. And for the banking industry, capital is very important. We will continue to protest. We have written petitions to the regulators and we will continue to write more petitions,” Muktar said.
He called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulatory bodies to wade into the crisis and take necessary actions to ensure sustainable growth of the bank.
“The regulators should intervene; they must invoke some certain regulatory powers. They can suspend the shares of those people who attempt to hold the bank to ransom. We cannot allow this bank to die,” he said.
Recall that the leadership of the bank has been embroiled in a fight for the control of the country’s premier and leading financial institution, FBNH, with three of Nigeria’s top investors – Hassan Odukale, Oba Otudeko and Femi Otedola – locked in the war and throwing in all their strength.
