First Bank appoints new MD as Adeduntan retires

First Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday announced the appointment of Gbenga Shobo as managing director/CEO.

The appointment, which takes effect from Wednesday, followed the retirement of Adesola Adeduntan, who has led the bank since January 2016. Until his appointment, Shobo was the bank’s deputy managing director.

Shobo has had a successful career in the bank and elsewhere, culminating in his appointment as deputy managing director. In 2016, prior to his appointment as deputy managing director, he was the executive director overseeing the retail banking/public sector businesses in the Lagos & West directorate and was hitherto the executive director overseeing the retail business in the South Directorate.

Commenting on the appointment, Ibukun Awosika, chairman, First Bank, said: “We are proud to announce Gbenga Shobo as our new CEO. His appointment has proven the resilience of our succession planning mechanisms and the value we place on our long-standing corporate governance practices, which underpins the institution’s enduring sustainability and the 127-year legacy.

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“I would like to thank Sola for his dedication and efforts during his helm at the bank, and before as chief finance officer. The board and I are grateful for his leadership of the bank over the last five years and a half and believe that the strong foundation created during his term would provide an excellent basis for our continued success. We wish him well in his future endeavours outside the FirstBank Group.”

Other key appointments include Abdullahi Ibrahim as deputy managing director, Ini Ebong, Segun Alebiosu, Seyi Oyefeso and Bashirat Odunewu, were also appointed as executive directors.

A statement from the bank noted that the appointments are subject to regulatory approval.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.