August 6, 2024
By Osaiyekemwen Confidence
Nigeria’s oldest bank, First Bank, has terminated over 100 employees following the discovery of a ₦40 billion fraud allegedly orchestrated by Tijani Muiz Adeyinka, a manager in the operations team.
Tech Cabal reports that the mass retrenchment occurred in July 2024.
Adeyinka, who is currently on the run, allegedly manipulated chargebacks to siphon money into accounts under his control over a two-year period.
It is claimed that at least 120 employees, including both full-time and contract staff, were dismissed. The head of transactions was among those terminated.
The dismissed employees were accused of negligence, with the bank’s management arguing that such a substantial fraud could not have occurred without the awareness of Adeyinka’s superiors.
The CEO at the time emphasized a zero-tolerance policy for supervisory negligence.
Reports from May indicated that Adeyinka exploited his final authorization authority to carry out the scheme undetected.
After the fraud was uncovered in March, the bank initially suspended several members of the operations team and attempted to manage the situation discreetly. However, the approach changed once the fraud was made public.
Numerous employees were detained by the Nigerian Police Force, with some held for at least six hours and required to post bail for their release. Their personal accounts were frozen, except those with First Bank.
In a related development, First Bank’s CEO, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan, resigned abruptly in April 2024, eight months before the end of his term, following the exposure of the fraud.
Adeduntan had been reinstated for a third term by the Central Bank in April 2021 after an attempted replacement by First Bank’s board was blocked due to a lack of regulatory approval. His sudden departure has been linked to the controversy surrounding his tenure.
First Bank has not issued any official comments on the matter.
