THE First Bank of Nigeria is yet to officially make its position known over the alleged layoff of 100 of its senior staff in its bid to restructure and reposition the bank ahead of 2025.

Already, several media outfits have reported shakeup in the bank which resulted to the sack of its senior staff numbering 100.

On the heel of the development, The ICIR reached out to the bank’s head of corporate communications, Folake Ani-mumuney, but she did not respond to calls, texts and WhatsApp messages sent to her.

“It’s confirmed now, about 100 of them, including some top executives,” an investment and portfolio analyst, Abel Ezekiel, who knows the layout, said.

“The bank is trying to do a kind of reorganisation. I think they want to manage it not to have some negative effects. They want to play it down and to manage the aftermath effect of that kind of massive layoff.

“Although they have not yet confirmed it, the news is already within incredible sources,” Ezekiel maintained

He said the bank would want to manage the negative effect to avoid backlash it might have on its image.

Laying off such numbers of staff indicates there is an internal crisis within the bank, Ezekiel stressed.

A shareholder who commented anonimously said FirstBank should have concentrated more on its recapitalisation.

In 2024 alone, the bank recorded several incidences of shakeup.

The chairman of the parent company, FBN Holdings, Femi Otedola, has spearheaded the shakeups to reposition the oldest bank in Nigeria, which boasts about 13 executive members, six general managers, 33 deputy general managers, and 37 assistant general managers.

Notably, the  bank had faced further restructuring since Otedola’s chairmanship began with the appointment of five directors.

In April, the bank’s former managing director/chief executive officer, Adesola Adeduntan, resigned abruptly which raised some concerns as it goes against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines.

In May, the chairman of FirstBank, Tunde Odukale, exited his role, and Ebenezer Olufowose was appointed.

In June, the bank further reshuffled its executive leadership, confirming the appointment of Olusegun Alebiosu as managing director and Ini Ebong as deputy managing director.

In October, the momentum continued with the appointment of a new group managing director, Wale Oyedeji

The ICIR can report that at the close of the market on Monday, the share price of the holding company appreciated by 10 kobo to N28.20 as investors gained N990 billion with the market capitalisation closing at N62.9 trillion.