Femi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo Plc, says the company’s ongoing restructuring may cause short-term disruption but is necessary to secure long-term stability.
Otedola shared the view on Tuesday in a post on X, where he explained that transforming a legacy institution requires confronting entrenched weaknesses and rebuilding its foundations.
He said, “Rebuilding and restructuring a behemoth like First Holdco Plc will come with a lot of disruptions including both pleasant and unpleasant surprises.
“We must pull things apart, remove old faulty foundations and build a new experience for all our stakeholders. This is our current reality at FirstHoldco Plc but surely a new beginning here for all of us.
“A new beginning that guarantees corporate sustainability and longevity fueled by the tenacity of purpose and veracity of vision supported by our core pillars of Transparency, Accountability, and Long Term Value for all stakeholders.
“I remain grounded in our pursuit to build a world class financial institution without distractions whilst my commitment to continue to invest my all; financial and otherwise, remains unflinching”
His remarks come amid extensive balance-sheet clean-up measures at First HoldCo, which recently disclosed a steep drop in profit linked to efforts to resolve inherited non-performing loans.
On January 31, Otedola revealed that the group absorbed a major financial impact while addressing N748 billion worth of bad loans.
He explained that the clean-up was a deliberate long-term strategy, even though it significantly reduced the company’s profit for the 2025 financial year.
