Auwal Lawal, the son-in-law of the former military head of state General Ibrahim Babangida (retd), is reportedly the new owner of Polaris Bank.
Strategic Capital Investment Limited (SCIL) on Thursday bought over 100 per cent of the equity in Polaris Bank via share purchase agreement (SPA), the Central Bank of Nigeria announced.
SCIL paid an upfront consideration of N50billion to acquire 100 per cent of the equity and also accepted the terms of the agreement which include the full repayment of the sum of N1.305 trillion, being the consideration bonds injected, the apex bank added.
Mr Lawal is married to Halima, the second daughter and last child of Babangida, reports The Nation.
The businessman holds the traditional chieftain title of Sarkin Sudan of Gombe.
Lawal is also the chairman and CEO of Nice Corporate Services Limited registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission since 2004. The company deals in real estate development, commodities trading, and supply of agricultural machinery and fertilizer.
Meanwhile, Polaris Bank has appointed a new independent board of directors to lead the bank’s growth strategy.
Chairman, Polaris Bank board Muhammad Ahmad said in a statement on Friday that the board would have six non-executive directors and three executive directors.
The new board and management include Ahmad, chairman; Abubakar Suleiman, non-executive director; Salma Mohammed, non-executive director; Adeleke Adedipe, non-executive director and Ahmed Almustapha, non-executive director.
Others as Francesco Cuzzocrea, non-executive director; Olabisi Odunowo, non-executive Director; Abdullahi Mohammed (executive director), and Segun Opeke (executive director).
It also named Adekunle Sonola, a former executive director at Union Bank, as the new executive managing director and chief executive officer of the financial institution.
