By Opeyemi Issa InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE) – Fidelity Bank Plc recently announced the appointment of four (4) new Executive Directors (EDs) as part of the Bank’s restructuring to enhance capacity at converting emerging business opportunities.

The four (4) new EDs are John Obi, Corporate Banking,   Mrs. Chijioke Ugochukwu, Shared Services, Balarabe Mohammed, Commercial and Consumer Banking, North Directorate and Nnamdi Okonkwo, Commercial and Consumer Banking, South Directorate.

This is coming on the heels of the normal retirement of Willie Obiano, Business Banking and Abdul-Rahman Esene, Public Sector & Investment Banking; two (2) of the Banks long-serving EDs; having reached the Bank’s Retirement Policy age of 55years and retired at the end of March, 2012.

The Bank in a Statement on Monday and made available to www.investadvocateng.com in Lagos Nigeria quoted Reginald Ihejiahi, Group Managing Director/Chief executive Officer (MD/CEO), Fidelity Bank as saying that the new appointments are part of the Bank’s Strategy to support strong growth plans and capacity building efforts.

Ihejiahi further said that the Board of Directors (BODs) recently held a week-long Retreat to review the Business Environment and the Bank’s strategy for the future. “The Review included changes to the Organisational Structure” he said.

On the new EDs, Obi, until recently was the General Manager, Corporate Banking in the Bank, was the pioneer Managing Director of Fidelity Pension Managers Limited (FPML), a subsidiary of Fidelity Bank.

Obi previously worked with the former Manny Bank and Union Bank amongst others, before joining Fidelity Bank in 2000. He has over 28 years industry experience and had served in various capacities in Corporate/Investment Banking and the Public sector.

He is a graduate of Accountancy and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the Lagos State University. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

On her part, Mrs. Ugochukwu was General Manager, Legal Services and Company Secretary of the Bank. She holds an LLB (Hons.) degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and a BL from the Nigerian Law School. She also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from IESE, Barcelona, Spain. She is a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in Nigeria and has more than 21 years Industry experience.

While Mohammed who has over 24 years banking experience across business portfolios covering Retail, Corporate and Commercial Banking is a Dealing Member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange since 1992, an ED with the former Oceanic Bank Plc and a General Manager in the United Bank for Africa (UBA).

Also, Okonkwo holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Benin and a Master of Business Administration degree, Banking and Finance from Enugu State University. He is a graduate of the Advanced Management Programme (AMP) from INSEAD, France.

Until his appointment, Okonkwo was the head of the Corporate Banking Directorate in United Bank for Africa (UBA); and Regional CEO of all UBA subsidiaries in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Okonkwo has over 21 years Industry experience in various areas of Banking, including Corporate and Investment Banking, Consumer Banking, as well Commercial Banking.