Business
Femi Otedola emerges chairman of First Bank Holdings
Billionaire businessman and chairman of Geregu Power Plc, Femi Otedola, today emerged as the chairperson of the board of FBN Holdings Plc, whose flagship arm is First Bank.
The change of guard took place at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Group in Lagos on Wednesday.
Mr Otedola succeeds Ahmad Abdullahi, a seasoned economist who was appointed chair of the Holdco on 17 December 2021.
Mr Otedola became a non-executive director of FBN Holdings on 14 August 2023, months after he acquired a substantial stake in First Bank.
Mr Otedola is the financial institution’s biggest and only substantial shareholder, holding a 5.6 per cent stake.
He has had investments in port agency, shipping, storage and insurance brokerage. In 2007, he acquired a controlling interest in African Petroleum, which later metamorphosed into Forte Oil. Forte Oil itself would later be sold and renamed Ardova.
Geregu Power, which he took public in October 2022, accounts for about nine per cent of Nigeria’s grid electricity.
He has held several board memberships, including President of the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping and as past Chairman of Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
He was part of the National Economic Management Team, chaired by former President Goodluck Jonathan from 2011 to 2015. At the moment, he is a member of the National Peace Committee.
A botched move to become the chief shareholder of Transnational Corporation, Nigeria’s biggest conglomerate by market value, in April 2023 saw him sell his stake of 6.3 per cent to rival Tony Elumelu.
This January, Mr Otedola acquired a significant stake in Dangote Cement, a company largely owned by his friend, Aliko Dangote. The exact value of his shares remained unknown, but those close to him say his holdings are worth more than N6 billion.
Business
CBN admits it opened domiciliary accounts for PFIPC agency
Represented by the Director of its Banking Services Department, Hamisu Ibrahim, the CBN said that the accounts are one in US dollars, the other in British pounds sterling, were opened following a mandate received from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
File photo : PFIPC agency DG, Adeniyi Adeyemi
The Central Bank of Nigeria had admitted that it opened two foreign-currency domiciliary accounts for the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).
The apex bank made the confirmation, yesterday, during the public hearing convened at the National Assembly Complex by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the existence and operations of the PFIPC, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi and inaugurated by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
Represented by the Director of its Banking Services Department, Hamisu Ibrahim, the CBN said that the accounts are one in US dollars, the other in British pounds sterling, were opened following a mandate received from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
He explained that on July 30, 2025, CBN received a mandate dated July 29, 2025 from the Office of the Accountant-General.
“We received the mandate to authorise two accounts, one a US dollar domiciliary account, the other a pound domiciliary account, for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council,” Ibrahim told the committee.
He explained the CBN’s verification process, “The process of opening an account requires a mandate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.
“Once we receive that mandate, we perform all the necessary verifications to confirm that this mandate is actually coming from that office.
The department that handles the mandate is different from the department that actually does the account opening,” he said.
Nevertheless, he noted that no one came to activate the accounts after they were opened.“We did not receive any correspondence, mandate, signature or mandate cards. We were not introduced to the authorising or approving officers.“Based on that, those accounts remain inactive, with zero balance. There have been no foreign exchange allocations.
BLACK MARKET RATES
US DOLLAR (USD) Buy ₦1, 410 Sell ₦1,415
GREAT BRITISH POUND (GBP) Buy ₦1,890 Sell: ₦1,910
EURO (EUR) Buy ₦1,580 Sell ₦1,600
CANADIAN DOLLAR (CAD) Buy ₦1,020 Sell ₦1,080
SOUTH AFRICAN RAND (ZAR) Buy ₦75 Sell ₦90
UAE DIRHAM Buy ₦350 Sell ₦370 CHINESE YUAN Buy ₦190 Sell ₦205
GHANA CEDI (GHS) Buy ₦95 Sell ₦110
WEST AFRICAN CFA Buy ₦2, 300 Sell ₦2, 400
CENTRAL AFRICAN CFA Buy ₦2,150 Sell 2,250
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR Buy ₦800 Sell ₦900
CBN OFFICIAL EXCHANGE RATES
US DOLLAR (USD) ₦1,380.11
GREAT BRITISH POUND (GBP) ₦1,857.35
EURO (EUR) ₦1,575.95
SWISS FRANC (CHF) ₦1,705. 31
JAPANESE YEN (JPN) ₦8.50
CHINESE YUAN (CNY) ₦203.94
WEST AFRICAN CFA (XOF) ₦2.40
WEST AFRICAN UNIT ACCOUNT (WAUA) ₦1,874. 32
SAUDI RIYAL (SAR) ₦367.49
SOUTH AFRICAN RAND (ZAR) ₦83.69
BLACK MARKET RATES
US DOLLAR (USD) Buy ₦1, 416 Sell ₦1,422
GREAT BRITISH POUND (GBP) Buy ₦1,895 Sell: ₦1,915
EURO (EUR) Buy ₦1,590 Sell ₦1,610
CANADIAN DOLLAR (CAD) Buy ₦1,020 Sell ₦1,080
SOUTH AFRICAN RAND (ZAR) Buy ₦75 Sell ₦90
UAE DIRHAM Buy ₦350 Sell ₦370 CHINESE YUAN Buy ₦190 Sell ₦205
GHANA CEDI (GHS) Buy ₦95 Sell ₦110
WEST AFRICAN CFA Buy ₦2, 300 Sell ₦2, 400
CENTRAL AFRICAN CFA Buy ₦2,150 Sell 2,250
AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR Buy ₦800 Sell ₦900
CBN OFFICIAL EXCHANGE RATES
US DOLLAR (USD) ₦1,380.18
GREAT BRITISH POUND (GBP) ₦1,854.42
EURO (EUR) ₦1,577.00
SWISS FRANC (CHF) ₦1,707.94
JAPANESE YEN (JPN) ₦8.50
CHINESE YUAN (CNY) ₦203.57
WEST AFRICAN CFA (XOF) ₦2.40
WEST AFRICAN UNIT ACCOUNT (WAUA) ₦1,874. 32
SAUDI RIYAL (SAR) ₦367.48
SOUTH AFRICAN RAND (ZAR) ₦83.29
CBN admits it opened domiciliary accounts for PFIPC agency
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