Fidelity Bank has announced the appointment of Alhaji Mohammed Lawal Balarabe as its Acting Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, following what it described as the absence from office of its MD/CEO, Nnamdi Okonkwo.
A statement by the Bank on Monday reads: “In the absence of the Managing Director/Chief Executive, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo, the Board of Directors of Fidelity Bank Plc has appointed the Executive Director, North, Alhaji Mohammed Lawal Balarabe, as the Acting Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc. with immediate effect subject to regulatory approval.
“The Bank reassures all its stakeholders including over 400,000 shareholders of its continued seamless services.”
Okonkwo has been in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission since Monday last week.
He is being investigated over a fraudulent transaction with a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke in which he was said to have accepted $115 million cash deposit from firms mentioned to him by Alison-Madueke into Fidelity Bank Plc and also handled $26 million cash on behalf of the former Minister.
The money was said to have been deployed for the 2015 general election, with key staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission fingered as beneficiaries.
With his week-long absence, the management of the Bank was said to have opted to replace Okonkwo with Balarabe, who, until his appointment, was the Executive Director, North of Fidelity Bank Plc.
The appointment is with immediate effect and the Bank has said Balarabe’s confirmation would be subject to the approval of regulatory authorities, an indication that Okonkwo would not return to his seat as MD/CEO.
