Ecobank has requested that First Bank Holdings reject the purchase of 4.7 billion shares by Dr Oba Otudeko, a former Chairman of the bank. The bank expressed concern in a letter from its Legal Counsel, Kunle Ogunba & Associates, stating that Dr Otudeko, through his affiliated entities, owed the bank N13.5 billion. The letter, dated July 7 and signed by Oludare Amusan, the Principal Partner of the law firm, revealed that the bank had filed multiple lawsuits against Honey Group Limited, Siloam Global Services Limited, Anchorage Leisures Limited, Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, and Dr Oba Otudeko at the Federal High Court in Lagos. The purpose of these legal actions is to recover the debts owed by the mentioned business entities.

The letter said Otudeko personally guaranteed the loan leading to the indebtedness of the prior-mentioned companies.
The letter read in part, “Whereas, the prior-mentioned entities had initially disputed their indebtedness to our client and had consequently filed an action in court to that effect, the Supreme Court on the 27th day of January, 2023 in Appeal No. SC/CV/210/2021 delivered Judgment (Certified true copy of which is herein attached) affirming the indebtedness of the above persons to our client and further commanded that they must pay all the outstanding debts that have accrued under the loan contract between the parties; the same debt personally guaranteed by Dr Oba Otudeko, which said indebted stood in the sum of N13,507,052,417.99.”
The bank, through its lawyers, alleged that instead of taking urgent steps to repay their indebtedness in line with the mandate of the supreme court, it had come to its notice that Otudeko, who had personally guaranteed to pay the said debt, had taken steps to divert his assets/funds using a company known as Barbican Capital Limited as a special purpose vehicle.
According to the letter, it was revealed that Dr Oba Otudeko, allegedly through Barbican Capital Limited, had acquired a total of 4,770,269,843 (Four billion, seven hundred and seventy million, two hundred and sixty-nine thousand, eight hundred and forty-three) shares of FBN Holdings Plc.

The letter stated that the bank had received information indicating that these shares were purchased through 19 business entities and were currently held by 10 different companies.
Based on these facts, the law firm argued that it was evident that Otudeko's actions were specifically aimed at diverting his assets and those of the Honeywell Group of Companies through Barbican Capital Limited. The purpose of these actions was purportedly to hinder the enforcement of the Supreme Court's judgment against him and the Honeywell companies, thus obstructing the recovery of their undisputed debts owed to Ecobank.

The letter also included a demand that FBN Holdings respectfully refrain from approving, consenting to, registering, or ratifying the shares purchased by Barbican Capital Limited through the mentioned entities. It emphasized that proceeding with such approvals or registrations would be equivalent to assisting in the diversion of funds and assets that were intended for the repayment of the affirmed debt by the Supreme Court. This would be a clear violation of the existing judgment of the Supreme Court, which has effectively determined the outstanding debt between the Honeywell Group and Ecobank Nigeria Limited.

The letter further requested that the details of the transaction be provided within the next seven days. It stated that as a responsible corporate entity, FBN Holdings should not take any action that would encourage the violation of a ruling by the Supreme Court.

This appeal by Ecobank follows a previous report by The PUNCH, which stated that Oba Otudeko's Honeywell Group had acquired the largest shares of First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc in a cross deal valued at N87.8 billion. The shares were purchased at a rate of N19 per unit, representing the highest volume of First Bank shares traded in a single day since 2012 when the stock exchange began publishing data.

The acquisition of the shares led to allegations regarding the legitimacy of the trades, as no single shareholder had previously owned such a large number of shares. Dr Oba Otudeko, the former chairman of First Bank until 2019, was believed to be making a swift comeback in order to become the largest individual shareholder of the bank.
Previously, billionaire Femi Otedola had become the bank's largest shareholder in 2021 after a dispute with Hassan Odukale, who also sought control of the bank following the leadership vacuum created by Otudeko's departure.

In response to Otudeko's attempt to regain control of the bank, certain shareholders of the company reportedly held a meeting on Monday to discuss the matter. These shareholders were determined to prevent Otudeko from assuming control of the bank and expressed concerns about the potential consequences of having him back in any capacity, particularly after his removal by the central bank in 2021.