How Agbaje’s appointment as GTCO GMD breached CBN rules

The appointment of Segun Agbaje as the Group Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) after spending 10 years as the MD of GTbank may have breached the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) law for bank CEOs, National Daily has gathered.

According to the CBN rules, a bank CEO has tenure of 10-years, and upon completion, is not allowed to occupy another position in the firm.

CBN stated that the CEO is restricted from taking up appointments from the firm or any of its subsidiaries until three years after the end of his tenure.

GTCO was established to house the business portfolio of the financial institution, standing as the parent company for GTBank, innovative products like Habari, and other ventures it diversified into.

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Prior to Agbaje’s appointment as GTCO Group CEO, he served as GTBank chief executive for more than 10-years as the bank failed to announce a replacement until July 2021.

This was nine months behind schedule as stated by Agbaje in 2020. There were rumours that he planned to remain at the helm of affairs at GTBank, and this was proved to be true when he was made the GCEO of the new Holding Company, while Miriam Onasanya replaced him as GTBank CEO.

The appointment of Agbaje, however, goes against the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) and Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, (LFN), 2004.

“Any person who has served as CEO for the maximum tenure in a bank shall not qualify for appointment in his former bank or subsidiaries in any capacity until after a period of three years after the expiration of his tenure as CEO.” The guideline reads.

This means the appointment of Agbaje as Group CEO immediately after the expiration of his term breaches the financial regulator’s guideline for banks.

Agbaje wasn’t qualified for another appointment at Guaranty Trust until 2023/2024, according to the CBN guideline for bank heads.