EFCC Picks Nnamdi Okonkwo, First Bank New MD, for Questioning

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recently interrogated the new Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Holdings Plc, Nnanmdi Okonkwo according to Premium Times.

The details of the arrest remain sketchy, as at Sunday night. However, sources have said that the MD was being questioned over his supposed role in the transfer of $153.3 million from the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission (NNPC). Okonkwo was the Managing Director of Fidelity Bank at the time of the transaction.

A source informed the Premium Times that the banker had spent at least three days in the custody of the EFCC, while another source said that Okonkwo was only interrogated on Tuesday and released to go home. This would not be the first time that the EFCC would arrest Okonkwo, as he had previously been detained by the Commission on April 28, 2016. He was then slammed with a 14-count charge which included money laundering.

The status of that case remained unclear as at Sunday morning when the Premium Times filed the report on Okonkwo. It is also possible that new evidence concerning the case has been uncovered, which has now facilitated a new round of investigations by the EFCC. However, officials of the Commission who were contacted declined to provide details concerning the case.

The board of FBN Holdings Plc appointed Okonkwo the new Group Managing Director on October 28, to take full effect on January 1, 2022. This follows the announcement that Okonkwo will succeed U.K. Eke, who will fully step down on December 31, 2021.

The board’s managerial decision came only five days after Femi Otedola, the chairman of Geregu Power Plc had declared his 5.07% stake in the group which made him a substantial shareholder. The decision also arrive one day after the First Bank Chairman, Tunde Hassan-Odukale had answered a query from the exchange to FBN Holdings, looking for clarification on why the shareholding of Hassan-Odukale and other related parties were classified into two parts.