Oba Otudeko is a famous businessman that is well known to be successful in every business he has ventured into. He served as a chairman for First Bank Holdings co and as well as the chairman of First Bank.
It was shocking to hear when the Central Bank of Nigeria sacked him alongside other board members of the First bank.
The boardroom guru is no doubt in a lot of financial crises as he might have to forfeit all he has labored for.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered the 75 billion naira loan facility that Oba Otudeko obtained from First Bank of Nigeria via insider lending using his status as the chairman within 48 hours to be repaid.
You might be wondering what an insider lending is. Insider lending is when a bank gives a loan to one or more of its officers or directors. Obafunke Otudeko had obtained the loan from First bank for Honeywell Flour Mills.
Oh! I also forgot to mention that Oba Otudeko is the Chairman of Honeywell Group. The loan had been un-serviced till date and the Central Bank of Nigeria has asked First Bank of Nigeria to divests its interest in the Honeywell Flour Mills Group and Bharti Airtel despite several reminders by the banker's bank.
Oba Otudeko also served as the chairman for Bharti Airtel Nigeria.
The order from the Central Bank of Nigeria to First Bank to divest its interests in those groups is also due to the loan Oba Otudeko had obtained from Ecobank.
Based on reports, in 2013, a loan facility worth about 5.5 billion naira was given to Oba Otudeko’s Honeywell Flour Mills by Ecobank. And as matter of fact, became the subject of litigation as the case is still ongoing at the supreme court.


It however counters Honeywell’s response to the Central Bank of Nigeria via its statement to the public; claiming that it always serviced its loans accordingly.
The baffling thing that Oba Otudeko did was that he used his Airtel shares and as well as some Honeywell assets as collateral in obtaining a loan from First Bank and as well as Ecobank. Hence, making it more difficult for either bank to move in on the assets. It is truly baffling indeed!
However, the Board of Directors of the First Bank said it had appointed a new Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Gbenga Shobo following the news that the former Managing Director/CEO, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan had retired.
The Central Bank of Nigeria flagged the transition process as shabby and said the transition process was not justified as Dr. Adeduntan’s tenure has not run out yet.