Opara, Fidelity Bank ED, elected president of CIBN

KENNETH OPARA, AN executive director at Fidelity Bank Plc, is the new president and chairman of council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), following his election to the position over the weekend at the 2022 annual general meeting (AGM) held in Lagos.

He will assume the position on May 21, 2022 when the incumbent, Bayo Olugbemi, is expected to complete his two-year term as president and chairman of council and step down.

Other officials elected at weekend’s AGM, as well as review and presentation of 2021 financial and operational reports are Pius Oladeji Olanrewaju as 1st vice president; Oladele Alabi, 2nd vice president, and Mojisola Bakare-Asieru, as national treasurer.

Others elected into the governing council of the CIBN are Victor Ndubuisi Aguwah, Olayinka Alade Odutola, Mary Oluwakemi Aina, and Segun Oshadare, who will serve for the 2022tributed tenure.

Oladele Alabi, national treasurer of the CIBN, at the AGM disclosed that the institute recorded an improved internally generated revenue of N1.766 billion in 2021 up from N1.468 billion recorded in 2020, a growth of 20.3 percent.

He said this was an indication that the CIBN was strategically moving towards its aspiration of becoming financially independent.

Other details of the financials showed that the year under review closed with a net operating surplus of N800.14 million in 2021, 40.31 percent higher than the N570.26 million recorded in 2020.

Moore Stephens Rosewater, CIBN’s external auditors, in their report on the 2021 financials, stated that the financial position of the CIBN was in agreement with the book of account, with Babatunde Oduwaye, the chairman of the CIBN audit committee, affirming that the accounting and reporting policies of the institute were in accordance with legal requirements and ethical practices.

Olugbemi, CIBN president, speaking on the 2021 operations, informed the members that the institute stands tall as a vanguard for the promotion of banking education and professionalism in Nigeria and the world at large.

He disclosed that the number of individual members of the institute grew from 144,922 as of April 30, 2021, to 149,967 as of March 24, 2022, representing an increase of 3.5 per cent over the previous year.

In the area of implementation of the Competency Framework, he said the institute has received a boost as it was appointed as the secretariat for the Bankers Committee, Sub-Committee on Competency and Industry Standards.