Polaris Bank has named a new board and management a day after the Central Bank of Nigeria announced the sale of the bank to Strategic Capital Investment Limited.
According to a statement released by the bank on Friday, the new board will be led by the existing chairman M K Ahmad, who will be joined on the board by six non-executive directors and three executive directors.
AdekunIe Sonola, a former executive director at Union Bank, is the managing director and chief executive officer of the bank.
The Central Bank of Nigeria on Friday announced the sale of Polaris Bank to SCIL, four years after the government took over the distressed Skye Bank, renamed it before injecting over N1 trillion of public funds to recapitalise the bank.
Strategic Capital Investment Limited emerged the preferred bidder for the lender, the CBN said in a statement late Thursday. The sale decision was jointly taken with the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), the government’s bad debt buyer, which took over Skye Bank after the CBN withdrew its licence in 2018 before setting up Polaris as a bridge bank.
The new owner, SCIL, paid N50 billion and has agreed to refund N1.3 trillion injected into the bank, CBN said.
Members of the new board are:
- MK Ahmad (Chairman)
- Abubakar Danlami Suleiman (Non-Executive Director)
- Salma Mohammed (Non-Executive Director)
- Adeleke Alex Adedipe (Non-Executive Director)
- Ahmed Almustapha (Non-Executive Director)
- Francesco Cuzzocrea (Non-Executive Director)
- Olabisi Olubunmi Odunowo (Non-Executive Director)
- AdekunIe Sonola (Executive – M D/CEO)
- Abdullahi S Mohammed (Executive Director)
- Segun Opeke (Executive Director)
Commenting on the acquisition and board transition, the chairman, Mr Ahmad said: “I would like to thank the outgoing board members profusely for their hard work and dedication over the last four years as we have established a strong governance structure and stabilised the bank. I am very pleased with the progress we have been able to make, and that we have delivered on our mandate to prepare the bank for a return to private ownership. I am personally proud to have been asked to lead the bank into an exciting new future and I look forward to working with the new board and our core investors to build on the platform we have created.”
Speaking on behalf of SCIL, the new core investor, Adekunle Sonola, the incoming MD/CEO said: “We are excited to participate in the next phase of growth for Polaris Bank and to have been able to recruit such an experienced and diverse Board of Directors we are confident can lead Polaris Bank into a new era of sustainable growth. This is an exciting time for the Nigerian financial services industry and we are committed to building on the strong foundations that have been established by the departing board. We would like to express our thanks for their service and wish them well.
“We have mandated the incoming management to develop an innovative, but sustainable growth strategy that prioritises the needs and aspirations of our current customers.”
