Bank Directors Association of Nigeria (BDAN) on Wednesday extended the tenure of its retiring president, Osaretin Demuren, for the next 90 days, as chairmen of banks hunt for a successor.
The members who were at 24th the annual general meeting held in Lagos for the presentation of the audited accounts for the year ended December 31, 2020, unanimously agreed on the tenure extension.
Demuren took over as the president of BDAN in October 2018, at the 21st AGM. “Since assuming office, I can confidently say that with the support of my colleagues, we have been able to deliver on the mandate of the association by increasing members’ participation, increase in revenue as evident in our financial statements and improved quality of our programmes. There is still more to be done notwithstanding especially with regards to advocacy with the regulators,” she said.
Demuren, who also is the chairman of GTBank Plc was confident that whoever takes over as president will further deliver on the aspirations of the association.
“I am therefore informing this meeting that this is the last meeting I will be acting in the capacity as President as my tenure as the chairman of Guaranty Trust Bank has come to an end and we are in a transition period.
She noted that at the 20th AGM held on the 4th of July, 2017, the memorandum and articles of association was amended and approved to specifically state in Clause 22 that the chairman of a Bank should Chair every meeting of the Governing Council and act as the President of BDAN.
“In view of this, we will also have a transition period where I will be speaking with my colleagues (chairmen of banks) on who will be my successor. I hereby crave your indulgence as we go through the transition period and assure that members will be carried along throughout the process,” she said.
On the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the banking sector, she said it was not a good year for banks because the expected profit and service did not come through but those who managed did what they could, made some profit. For instance some banks divided their staff into two or three batches, that was a very brilliant idea.
She said corporate governance should be entrenched in banks and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has the requirements for directorship. It is not everybody that is corporate governance compliant, especially those that have some faces behind them, she said.
