No rift in our board – JAIZ Bank MD

The Managing Director, Jaiz Bank Plc, Mallam Hassan Usman, has said there is no rift in the Jaiz Bank Board over the recent move to appoint a new Managing Director/CEO.

The Board recently began the process to hire one Mr. Muhammad Shaheed Khan, a foreign national to run the affairs of the bank on a contract of three years at the first instance but subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) based on regulatory provisions.

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Our correspondent gathered that the hire was necessary because the current MD/CEO Mallam Usman’s tenure had expired in June 2020 and the six months extension he was given will also expire in December 2020.

One of the board members who spoke to our correspondent under condition of anonymity said the board members had all previously agreed to hire Mr. Khan because of his experience and knowledge of Islamic banking as well his proficiency in ICT, which the bank wanted to leverage to drive innovation.

He also said Mr. Khan worked in markets such as Bahrain, Dubai and Saudi Arabia will leverage his exposure to better invest Jaiz Bank’s funds.

He said the current MD tenure could not be renewed by the board because he would turn 60 years in less than two years into his contract if renewed, which is the mandatory retirement age of all staff of the bank.

He also explained that although the board had recommended a three-year contract term for Mr. Khan, the CBN approved two years adding that Mr. Khan was still willing to take the contract but some board members kicked against it saying since the CBN modified the contract terms, the appointment process won’t be continued.

Mallam Usman told journalists that “the Board’s resolution to rescind its decision and consequently discontinue the appointment process was in line with the terms and conditions of the offer letter issued to Mr. Khan since the offer was subject to relevant regulatory approvals.”

“Incidentally, the approval obtained from the relevant regulator materially modified the intention of the Board as expressed in the conditional offer to Mr. Khan, necessitating the Board’s decision to discontinue the process of his appointment,” he further explained.

He said following the inability of the Board to hire a new MD, the board approved that his contract with the bank be extended until another MD is appointed adding that the CBN approved it as well.

Speaking on the bank’s performance, the MD said the bank has performed very well posting profits in the first nine months of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, in spite of the harsh operating conditions due to COVID-19 pandemic.

He expressed confidence that the bank’s full-year profit in 2020 will surpass the 2019 figures. He also said the bank is opening up more branches as three new branches will come on board by the first quarter of 2020.