WorldStage– Julius B. Omodayo-Owotuga transmuted from a non executive director on First Hold Co PLC board to executive director in Fisrt Bank Plc on May 14, strengthening his ties with his boss Femi Otedola, five months after they both shipped out of Geregu Power Plc.
Before his initial exit, which First HoldCo disclosed on the NGX the same day, Owotuga had served on the board since December 2021 as a non-executive director.
Otedola became its chairman in 2025.
Nigeria Code of Corporate Governance (NCCG 2018) and the CBN Governance Guidelines 2023 permit a non executive director to become an executive director after a cooling-off period of at least two years.
Otedola and Owotuga have a history dating back to Otedola’s Forte Oil Plc days. Then Owotuga directed the group’s finance and risk management from 2011 to 2018.
A year later, he joined Otedola in Geregu Power Plc under the billionaire’s control then. And two years later, Owotuga, an Oxford-trained risk and finance expert, became deputy CEO of the power company.
Their ties first got tested last December when they both left Geregu following Otedola’s sale of his controlling stake to MA’AM Energy.
Owotuga’s board transmutation marked a deeper entrenchment in Otedola’s business empire in more than two decades of working together.
The new executive director started his career at KPMG, and moved on to the African Finance Corporation before pitching his tent with Otedola.
