Jennifer Ugwueke
The board of Directors of Jaiz Bank Plc has rejected the conditions laid by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for it to appoint a new Managing Director.
It has therefore asked the current management whose tenure would lapse by the end of 2020 to continue to stir the ship of the pioneer non-interest bank in Nigeria.
There were reports last week of a rift within the rank of the board led by Alhaji Umaru Mutalab.
At a press conference in Abuja on Sunday, Managing Director of the bank, Mr Hassan Usman, said following the approaching expiration of his tenure, some board members decided to get a new hand.
“For the record, the Bank will like to state that there is no rift in the board of the bank other than the legitimate exercise of divergent opinions on a matter in the ordinary course of the directors’ duties.
“The matter of succession for the current Managing Director was considered by the Board as the expiration of his contract approached.
“Whereas some Directors were of the opinion that a change of leadership was required to pursue some critical strategic goals, others believed otherwise, given the very impressive performance of the current management.
“The board nonetheless resolved to appoint a new successor in the person of Mr Muhammad Shaheed Khan.
“This decision was however rescinded at a subsequent meeting of the board.
“The board’s resolution to rescind its decision and consequently discontinue the appointment process was in line with the terms and conditions of the offer letter issued to Mr Khan since the offer was subject to relevant regulatory approvals.”
According to Usman, the approval obtained from the CBN however, materially modified the intention of the board as expressed in the conditional offer to Mr Khan, necessitating the board’s decision to discontinue the process of his appointment.