Last year, most listed Nigerian banks gained from the naira devaluation as it boosted their profits, leading to an increase in the salaries of their directors and staff.
The highest-paid directors – the chief executive officers – have remunerations that often rise and fall in line with the companies’ performance.
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BusinessDay analysis of the latest financial statements of FBN Holdings Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, FCMB Group Plc, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc shows that the five financial institutions paid the most to their CEOs in 2023.
Here are the highest-paid bank CEOs
Nnamdi Okonkwo – FBN Holdings
Okonkwo is the group managing director of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria Limited and other subsidiaries.
His work experience spans over 32 years of focused and results-oriented local and international banking.
FBN Holdings paid its Okonkwo N3.41 billion in 2023, up from N3.07 billion in 2022.
Ebenezer Onyeagwu – Zenith Bank
Onyeagwu is the managing director/CEO of Zenith Bank Plc. He is a vastly experienced banker and financial expert, trained in reputable institutions of learning in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
He has been on the board of Zenith Bank Ghana, Zenith Pensions Custodian Limited, Zenith Nominees Limited, and African Finance Corporation (AFC) within the last six years.
Zenith Bank paid its Onyeagwu N2.17 billion in 2023, up from N285 million in 2022.
Ladi Balogun – FCMB Group
Ladi Balogun became the group chief executive officer of FCMB Group Plc effective March 14, 2017.
He began his banking career in 1993 at Morgan Grenfell and Co Limited and worked at Citibank in New York before returning to Nigeria as an executive assistant to the chairman/chief executive of First City Merchant Bank Limited (which later became Plc) in 1996.
He has over 28 years of experience in commercial and investment banking in Europe, the United States of America, and Africa.
FCMB paid Balogun N2.16 billion in 2023, up from N1.83 billion in 2022.
Yemi Odubiyi – Sterling Financial Holdings Company
Odubiyi is the group chief executive officer of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc.
Over the years, he has played a central role as a key member of the management team of Sterling Bank Plc [as it then was] from its founding in 2006, having originally joined through its legacy component, Trust Bank of Africa, back in 2003.
Sterling Financial Holdings paid Odubiyi N568 million in 2023, up from N458 million in 2022.
Segun Agbaje – Guaranty Trust Holding Company
Agbaje is the group chief executive officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (also known as GTCO Plc), a multinational financial services group that offers retail and investment banking, pension management, asset management, and payments services, headquartered in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
GTCO paid its Agbaje N456.5 million in 2023, up from N445.7 million in 2022.
Demola Sogunle – Stanbic IBTC Holdings
Sogunle is the chief executive officer of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc. Until his appointment, he was the chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Bank and previously served as deputy chief executive of the bank.
Also, before he was appointed deputy chief executive of the bank, he was the chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, a position he held from August 2011 to December 2015.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings paid Sogunle N330 million in 2023, up from N245 million in 2022.
Oliver Alawuba – United Bank for Africa
Alawuba is CEO/managing director at United Bank for Africa Plc. He was at various times CEO Designate for UBA Cote d’Ivoire, CEO of UBA Ghana, Regional CEO for West Africa, ED East Bank in Nigeria, and later, DMD/CEO UBA Africa, providing leadership for the entire 19 Country operations of UBA across Africa.
During these periods, he worked with teams to structure landmark transactions and solutions that redefined most of these markets.
UBA paid Alawuba N247 million in 2023, up from N215 million in 2022.
Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe – Fidelity Bank
Onyeali-Ikpe assumed office as managing director/CEO of Fidelity Bank on January 1, 2021. She was formerly the executive director of Lagos and South West, overseeing the bank’s business in the six states that make up the South West region of the bank.
She is also an honorary senior member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.
Onyeali-Ikpe’s full-year salary remained unchanged at N110 million in 2023.
