By Chinwendu Obienyi
Shareholders under the aegis of Shareholders’ Trustees Association of Nigeria yesterday, expressed dissatisfaction with majority shareholders of FBN Holdings’ move to suspend the financial institution’s forthcoming 11th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and proposed plans to raise fresh capital.
Management of FBN Holdings is seeking to increase its issued share capital from N17.95billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to N22.43billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each and seek shareholders’ approval to raise fresh capital by means of rights issue. The bank would raise funds through the creation of 8.974 billion Ordinary shares at 50 kobo each.
The National Chairman Association, Alhaji Mukhtar Mukhtar, who was speaking to selected journalists alongside other shareholders at FBN Holdings head office in Lagos said the move to suspend the AGM might affect proposed capital raising exercise and appointment of new directors.
According to him, “We are at FBN Holdings head office to register our displeasure of the attempt by some shareholders to prevent AGM of the Holdings and also preventing them in getting approval from shareholders to take critical resolutions meant for the interest of the bank.
Those fuelling these crises have approached the court wanting FBN Holdings not to raise capital as other banks are doing right now. Again, they are trying to suspend the AGM not to allow shareholders to vote and decide the fate of new directors in the bank. These are shareholders holding the oldest financial institution in Nigeria to ransom. This is very unfortunate and we shareholders are against it.
Those that went to court know it is illegal as we know AGMs are statutory and nobody can stop it. We have numerous instances where some aggrieved shareholders approached the court to suspend AGM but the judge ruled that it is statutory and it cannot stop”.
He noted that the shareholders have approached a court to prevent the bank from raising fresh capital and you will agree with me that banking business is all about capital while adding that if there is no capital, the business will collapse.
“The court ruling is that the Bank should not go ahead with the AGM. I do not know if the current judiciary is different from what we used to have 20-30 years ago. In my 30-decade experience in the capital market, I have seen so many instances of shareholders approaching a bank to stop AGM but the court rejected those appeals.”
He reiterated that minority shareholders wanted the AGM to hold and all resolutions approved, stressing that “It does not make sense a bank is holding AGM and the court is preventing it from considering some certain resolutions.”
He, however, called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) to intervene before the date of the AGM.
“The management of FBN Holdings wanted to hold the AGM but they are prevented from conducting it. FBN Holdings is a Domestic- systemic Important bank in Nigeria. It does not make any sense for regulators to keep quiet. We will continue to protest until regulators intervene. How will few individuals hold FBN Holdings to ransom? We have written to regulators to take action,” he said.