Tension in Olusegun Alebiosu Led FIRST BANK, Hundreds of Staff Sacked, Months After Multi-Billion Naira Fraud

The atmosphere is currently tense in the Olusegun Alebiosu led First Bank at the moment, as hundreds of staff have reportedly been sacked by management ENigeria Newspaper reports.

ENigeria Newspaper understands that the sad development is coming exactly a few months after a First Bank Manager, Tijani Muiz Adeyinka reportedly diverted a whopping sum of over N40 billion depositors’ funds within the space of two years.

Adeyinka who is still on the run at the time of filing this report is said to have smartly carried out the nefarious act by using his clearance to authorize the chargebacks to accounts under his control.

At the time of publishing this report, ENigeria Newspaper cannot confirm the exact number of persons whose appointments with the bank were terminated, but some top sources in the employ of the financial institution confirmed to us that at least 120 employees, including full-time and contract staff of First Bank’s large operations department, were given termination letters in July. The head of transactions at the time was also fired.

Those employees were accused of laxity in discharging their duties and were told they should have spotted the fraud earlier. First Bank’s management team believed it was impossible for a fraud of that scale and timeline to have been executed without the knowledge of Adeyinka’s superiors.

“Olusegun Alebiosu, the bank’s new CEO said there will be zero tolerance for supervisory negligence,” said one First Bank employee who asked not to be named so they could speak freely.

The multi-billion naira alleged fraud incident in First Bank was first reported in May, demonstrating how Adeyinka, who was the final line of authorization on his team, carried on his scheme unnoticed for two years. When the incident was discovered in March, the bank tried to keep the matter under wraps, suspending several operations team members indefinitely. However, First Bank allegedly became more aggressive after the fraud became public.

Several employees were questioned by the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and detained at the Lion’s Building for at least six hours, one person with direct knowledge of the incident said. Those employees needed to post bail before they were released. Restrictions have been placed on all their personal accounts except their First Bank accounts.

First Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comments.

The blast radius may have extended farther. First Bank’s CEO at the time, Dr Adesola Adeduntan, abruptly resigned in April, eight months before the end of his tenure and less than a month after the fraud was uncovered. Adeduntan, who led First Bank for nine years and “left to pursue other interests,” was initially replaced as CEO by First Bank’s board in April 2021.

The Central Bank of Nigeria blocked that move, claiming First Bank’s board acted without regulatory approval. It paved the way for Dr. Adeduntan to serve an unprecedented third term. One publication claimed concerns over his tenure led to his resignation in April.

This is a developing story, more is to come soon.