Inside Details As Agbaje Prepares To Give GTBank 1st Female CEO

There are strong indications that Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) is about to get its first female Chief Executive Officer / Managing Director.

And at the heart of this move is Segun Agbaje, the outgoing helmsman that has changed the fortune of the bank beyond expectations.

Agbaje leaves office in June 2021 – according to the rule guiding his industry – but with a record that speaks volume of wizardry as a Bank Chief.

The 58yr old who took over in 2010 when the Bank’s total assets and contingents were N1.6 trillion and the balance sheet pegged at N1.2Trillion in 9years (by 2019)had grown the Total Assets to N3.76Trillion with the balance sheet parading a Profit Before Tax of 231.7Billion and Profit After Tax of 196.8Billion.

The implication of Agbaje’s feat – which he has greatly improved upon since then with Total Assets at N4.574 Trillion and Shareholders fund soared to N755.5Billion as of September 2020 – is best explained in pointing out the fact that it took two more popular and better-recognized predecessors, Fola Adeola and Tayo Aderinokun, 20years (Ten years tenure each ) to create the record he eclipsed.

Societynow.ng gathered that it is the plan to protect this legacy, and plot to make investors happier by improving on it, that is about to gift GTBank its first Female Chief Executive Officer in the person of Miriam Chidiebele Olusanya, the Executive Director who heads the Wholesale Banking Division.

Olusanya who joined the Bank in 1998 and boasts of over 20years experience on the job is said to key very well into Agbaje’s futuristic dream for GTBank.

“They have a very fantastic working relationship and that is majorly as a result of Olusanya’s keen insights and large appetite for hard work because Agbaje doesn’t rest on the oars in pushing for desired results” societynow.ng learned.

The information filtering in has it that as part of the strategy to help Olusanya have a proper grip on the affairs of the bank and deliver on mandate when she takes charge, two Executive Directors appear to be on their way out.

On the list is Ademola Odeyemi who is one the longest serving top shots at GTBank.

Societynow.ng gathered that the graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University and Executive Director in charge International Banking and Strategy was actually believed to be in line to succeed Agbaje until recently.

“He knows all there is to know about and at the Bank. He was actually very chummy with Agbaje until a couple of years ago. He left and was lured back in a move that shows his importance back then” societynow.ng gathered.

Odeyemi who joined GTBank in 1997 and is responsible for coordinating the Bank’s subsidiaries across the globe have been asked to retire to “prevent a situation where he would be reporting to someone he literally outranks.”

Another person about to exit the bank at the top level is Bolaji Lawal, the Executive Director who oversees the Digital Banking Division.

Lawal who holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Obafemi Awolowo University (1990); B.L from the Nigerian Law School (1991) and a Master of Business Administration from the Oxford University, United Kingdom (2002) was appointed Director in 2017.

Aside from the move to create an enabling environment for the postured successor to Agbaje, Lawal’s exit is also not unconnected with recent happenings surrounding the Digital Banking arm of GTBank.

Lawal who joined the bank in 1992 as an Executive Trainee rose rose through the ranks to become a General Manager, a position he held until his appointment as Executive Director has over twenty-four (24) years’ of banking experience which covers various aspects of banking including Credit Risk Management; Corporate Banking Group; Commercial Banking Group; Investment Banking and Corporate Finance where he served as Group Head. Under his leadership, the Group worked on several landmark debt syndications, capital market and project finance transactions both in Nigeria and abroad.

Aside from the glitches knocking the Digital Division put at his doorstep, his exit also helps him to avoid a situation he is likely to find “uncomfortable.”.

Olusanya, the postured successor to Agbaje joined the bank in 1998 has over 20 years of banking experience which spans Transaction Services, Treasury, Assets and Liability Management, Corporate Finance, and Wholesale Banking. She’s an Executive Director and Heads Wholesale Banking Division of the bank. She studied at the University of Ibadan and University of Liverpool