First Bank terminates more than one hundred employees. Following the disclosure of a ₦40 billion fraud purportedly perpetrated by Tijani Muiz Adeyinka.
A manager in the operations team at Nigeria’s oldest bank, The mass retrenchment was implemented in July 2024. Over a two-year period, Adeyinka, who is currently evading arrest, allegedly manipulated chargebacks to transfer funds to accounts under his control.
It was purported that at least 120 employees, including both full-time and contract staff, were terminated. The director of transactions was also terminated.
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Adeyinka’s superiors were alleged to have been aware of the fraud, which was of such magnitude that the bank’s management accused the affected employees of negligence.
The CEO of the period established a policy of complete zero-tolerance toward supervisory negligence. In May, reports disclosed that Adeyinka employed his final authorization authority to execute the scheme undetected.
The bank initially suspended several operations team members and endeavored to discreetly manage the situation after the fraud was uncovered in March. Nevertheless, the strategy was altered promptly upon the disclosure of the fraud.
The Nigerian Police Force detained a significant number of employees, with some of them being held for a minimum of six hours and subsequently being compelled to post bond in order to be released.
Except for those held by First Bank, their personal accounts were closed. In a related development, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, the CEO of First Bank, abruptly resigned in April 2024, eight months before the end of his tenure, in response to the fraud’s exposure.
Adeduntan was previously reinstated for a third term by the Central Bank in April 2021, following the failed attempt by First Bank’s board to replace him due to a lack of regulatory approval.
The controversy that surrounded his tenure was the reason for his abrupt departure. The matter has not been the subject of any official comments from First Bank.