The Managing Director/Chief Executive, Jaiz Bank Plc, Mr. Hassan Usman, on Sunday, asserted that there is currently no rift in the board as speculated in the media.
But, there had been allegations that the bank was enmeshed in a succession crisis, given that Usman’s contract as Managing Director was fast approaching.
The board allegedly dropped Mr. Muhammad Shaheed Khan, a candidate for the position, in the process of appointment.
However, speaking to journalists on the development, Usman said there was no rift, “other than the legitimate exercise of divergent opinions on a matter in the ordinary course of the directors’ duties.”
He said: “Whereas some directors of the bank opined that a change of leadership was required to pursue some critical strategic goals, others believed otherwise, given the awe-inspiring 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 This decision was however rescinded at a subsequent meeting of the board.”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 MD said: “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.”
He said incidentally, the approval obtained from the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) materially modified the intention of the board as expressed in the conditional offer to Khan. This situation further necessitated the board’s decision to discontinue the process of his appointment.
The bank, however, reassured its customers, shareholders, investing public and other stakeholders that the board remained committed to conducting its affairs within the stipulations of existing corporate governance codes for banks and public companies in the country.
Usman, also listed some of the bank’s intervention programmes to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on customers and Nigerians in general.
He said the bank had contributed the sum of N100 million to the industry-wide efforts by banks to provide palliatives to people who are adversely affected by the pandemic.
He said the institution further initiated forbearance to customers.
“Our type of forbearance is unlike the conventional banks that you restructure a transaction and continue to charge. Most of our products, when you give forbearance, it means it is at zero returns to the bank.
“So we have given these people the advantage of having the facility to run without paying any extra profit to the bank.”
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