Honeywell Chairman, Ex First Bank MD arraigned over alleged N12.3bn fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)) will on Monday arraign the Chairman, Honeywell Group, Chief Oba Otudeko, and former Managing Director of First Bank Plc, Mr. Olabisi Onasanya over alleged N12.3bn fraud.

The suit also names a former Managing Director of First Bank, Olabisi Onasanya; an ex-Honeywell board member, Soji Akintayo and Anchorage Leisure Ltd as defendants.

In a suit marked: FHC/L/20C/2025, the anti-graft agency filed 13 charges against the defendants at the Federal High Court in Lagos, bordering on fraud and forgery among others.

The EFCC accused the defendants of obtaining N12.3bn from First Bank Limited on the pretence that the said sum represented credit facilities applied for by V-tech Dynamic Links Limited and Stallion Nigeria Limited between 2013 and 2014.

They were also accused of obtaining N6.2billion from First Bank Limited on the pretence that the said sum represented credit facilities applied for and disbursed to Stallion Nigeria Limited between 2013 and 2014 in Lagos but the claim was false.

Count 8 read, “That you, Chief Oba Otudeko, Stephen Olabisi Onasanya, Soji Akintayo and Anchorage Leisure Limited on or about the 3rd day of September 2013 in Lagos and within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court uttered a forged document titled “Letter of Application” with the intent that the First Bank may use it in the belief that the said document is genuine and emanated from V-Tech Dynamic Links Limited, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(2)(c) of the miscellaneous offences Act, Cap M17 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and punishable under same Act.”

COUNT 13 stated, “That you, Chief Oba Otudeko on or about 3rd day of September 2013 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst being the Chairman of First Bank Plc indirectly had a personal interest in a loan facility sought for by V Tech Dynamics Links Limited in the sum of N6,150,000,000.00 (Six Billion, One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira Only), which interest was not declared to the Bank and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(1) banks and other Financial Institutions Acts 2004 and punishable under Section 18(2) of same Act.”

Background: CBN removed Otudeko as FBN Holdings Chairman

The previous Chairman of First Bank, Ibukun Awosika and Obafemi Otudeko, the Chairman of FBN Holdings at the time were both removed from their positions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in April 2021.

Insider related loans at FBN Holdings had been problematic, according to the CBN.

“The problems at the bank were attributed to bad credit decisions, significant and non-performing insider loans, and poor corporate Governance practices. The shareholders of the Bank and FBN Holdings lacked the capacity to recapitalize the bank to minimal requirements,” the CBN said in 2021.

FBNH Holdings asset quality was a key concern for investors during the Otudeko era, with the Bank’s gross nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio escalating to 24.4% at Full Year (FY) 2016, 22.8% in FY 2017, and 24.7% in FY 2018.

This was largely driven by rising delinquent loans, particularly within the troubled oil and gas sector, where the bank was highly exposed.

FBN Holdings one of Nigeria’s largest financial holding companies in terms of banking assets was for a long time best known for its value destruction, before the current Chairman Femi Otedola engineered an activist takeover of the firm to the chagrin of some other long term shareholders, who tried to resist the reform minded Otedola but were left licking their wounds.

Over one 10-year period pre the Otedola era, FBN Holdings stock had crashed by 91% between a rights offer at N33 per share mostly bought by retail investors in 2007 and lows of N2.96 per share hit in March of 2017.

Today, FBN Holdings stock trades at a N29 per share. The stock was up 19.1 percent in 2024 alone.

In 2024, Otedola emerged the Chairman Board of Directors of FBN Holdings.

FBN Holdings has seen a stunning reversal in its fortunes over the past 3 years. Profitability has surged while return on equity (ROE), a measure of how efficient a corporation is at generating profit from money that investors have put into the business, has risen to more a respectable level as at December 2023, to the delight of investors.

FBN Holdings return on equity surged tenfold from an embarrassing 2.1% in 2016 to 21.9% in 2023.