First Bank appoints Olufowose as Chairman, Hassan-Odukale exits

FBN Holdings Plc, has announced the exit of Mr Tunde Hassan-Odukale as Chairman of its subsidiary, First Bank of Nigeria Ltd., following the completion of his tenure.

Consequently, the Board of First Bank appointed Mr Ebenezer Olufowose, a Non-Executive Director, as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank.

Mr Adewale Arogundade, Company Secretary, FBN Holdings, said this in a notification sent to the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) on Thursday in Lagos.

Arogundade explained that Hassan-Odukale completed the cumulative number of years, which is 12 years for a Non-Executive Director, in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBNs) corporate governance guidelines.

He said Olufowose was appointed to the Board of Directors of First Bank on April 29, 2021.

Olufowose is the Group Managing Director of First Ally Capital Ltd., an investment banking firm based in Lagos.

With over 35 years of working in the financial services industry, Olufowose brings skills from corporate finance, project finance and investment banking to the board.

Before joining the First Bank Board, he was Executive Director at Access Bank Plc and Citibank Nigeria, where he led Citigroup’s origination, structuring and execution of corporate finance and investment banking transactions in Nigeria.

He started his banking career in 1985 at NAL Merchant Bank Plc (NAL), working in the Corporate Planning and Finance Departments.

A first-dass honours degree holder in Economics from the University of Lagos, Olufowose holds an MA in International Economics from the University of Sussex, England.

He has attended several management and leadership training programmes at leading institutions, including the Institute of Management Development, Switzerland, Harvard Business School, Boston, U.S., and INSEAD Singapore.

He is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School and the Lagos Business School and an Honourary Senior member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.

Olufowose is also a Fellow of the Institute of Credit Administration and a Fellow of the Association of Investment Advisers and Portfolio Managers.