E-Financial
Wema Bank to Drive Growth with Technology- CEO
Wema Bank, will leverage technology and innovation to drive its growth, according to Mr Ademola Adebise, the bank’s managing director/chief executive officer.
This, he said, would enable the bank to realise its goal of doubling the key indices of its assets, deposits and profits within the next two years.
He added that the transformational efforts by the bank to become a strong retail bank had been yielding results with its ability to declare dividends in 2018, the first time in 14 years.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos recently, Adebise explained that the bank was refreshing its information technology tool, which he said would be deployed responsibly to bring about the desired growth.
He said, “We intend to be a strong retail bank leveraging technology and innovation. For us, what we have said is that in the next two years, we would work to double our key indices of assets, deposits and profits through organic growth.
“Today, we are about N400bn, in the neighbourhood of N500bn in assets, and if we stretch that, we would be shooting for N800bn by the time we double our indices. We want to get to N1tn mark in terms of our assets.
“We have all the right tools in place and we are refreshing our IT, side by side our Alat product, which is doing well out there and what we are doing now is to review it and take it to the next level. It’s not just about pumping money to excite ourselves; we know what we are doing. Shareholders are interested in returns, so we have to deploy our limited resources in a way that would benefit all stakeholders. We have a clear digital journey we are working on.”
He stressed that innovation was a key ingredient in the sector.
He said, “To remain competitive in this market, one needs to be very innovative, and for us, we want to be innovative, agile and deploy products that appeal to the needs of the customers. We would leverage technology as much as possible.
“We want to be an innovative bank, generate ideas and solve problems using technology and the three main problems we want to solve are; reduce the cost to service our customers, improve top line revenues for the bank and the last one is to solve societal problems.
“We have key sectors of the economy that we have mapped out to achieve this growth. We are also trying to ensure that we have well trained and well remunerated staff to be able to achieve the vision and we are very committed to it.”
Adebise explained that the bank had identified sectors it would play in, including small and medium scale enterprises, agriculture value chain, oil and gas and the creative industry.
He said, “We have sectors we have mapped out for us to play in, I mean in the retail space, like SMEs, oil and gas and agriculture and what we have done is to tailor our products along the intervention schemes of the government.
“For example, there is a Central Bank of Nigeria intervention scheme towards agriculture, so we have done our strategy and we have looked at the value chain. We want to focus on processing and we would look at the aggregators for all the SMEs and peasant farmers. And in supporting the aggregators, we look at key crops like cassava in the South-West and rice in the North and we are looking at engaging them. We have clearly mapped out products that we would use to appeal to these segments of the market.
“What is of interest today is that business models are changing. It’s not the old style of doing agriculture ; we are talking about the different players within that value chain and being able to use technology to put everything together. Agriculture is the major contributor to our Gross Domestic Product, so we look at how to boost export, which would bring back a lot of forex into the system and our reserves.”
He stressed the bank’s commitment to discipline and corporate governance in giving out quality loans.
The CEO also noted that since the bank got its national licence in 2015, it had returned to the North and the East. “They are picking up and what we are doing is opening branches based on business exigencies and considerations, not wishful thinking or sentiments,” he added.
Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has begun the final phase of liquidation for the defunct Premier Commercial Bank, initiating the payment of liquidation dividends to verified creditors, nearly 25 years after the bank’s closure.
Premier Commercial Bank had its operating license revoked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on December 20, 2000, following findings of financial instability and regulatory non-compliance.
Since then, the NDIC has overseen the bank’s liquidation process under a winding-up order from the Federal High Court, which designated the corporation as the official liquidator.
In a public announcement, the NDIC invited all eligible creditors to visit any of its zonal offices between June 2 and June 27, 2025, to verify and claim their entitlements.
This move marks a critical milestone in the final settlement of claims related to the bank’s collapse.
To facilitate the verification process, creditors are required to present proof of deposit or shareholding, such as a passbook, chequebook, term deposit certificate, or bank statement.
Additionally, valid identification documents must be submitted, including a driver’s license, international passport, national identity card, NIN slip/card, voter’s card, or a formal identification letter from a traditional ruler or local government chairman.
The NDIC assured the public that the ongoing settlement is part of a broader effort to bring closure to longstanding claims resulting from Premier Commercial Bank’s liquidation. The process, according to the corporation, has been designed to ensure efficient disbursement to all verified stakeholders.
Premier Commercial Bank is one of 53 deposit money banks whose licenses were revoked by the CBN between 1994 and 2018 due to various violations and signs of financial distress.
These closures were followed by legal procedures appointing the NDIC to manage asset recoveries and creditor settlements.
By initiating this final phase of payment, the NDIC is reaffirming its commitment to financial system stability and depositor protection while calling on all affected individuals and institutions to complete verification processes promptly to receive their due compensation.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has directed all public companies and Registrars to stop treating unclaimed dividends older than 12 years as “statute-barred”, especially those dating from before the enactment of the Finance Act 2020.
The directive reaffirms the provisions of Section 60 of the Finance Act, which mandates that dividends unclaimed for over six years be transferred to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund (UFTF), where they remain accessible to shareholders pending claims.
The Commission said that shareholders are entitled to continue to claim their dividends that are not statute-barred (that is not above 12 years) before December 31, 2020 “when the Finance Act 2020, came into effect.”
According to the SEC in a Circular, “The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission has been drawn to the fact that paying companies and their Registrars have continued to treat unclaimed dividends of public companies that are older than 12 years as being “statute-barred” without recourse to the provisions of the Finance Act 2020.
“In response to various inquiries on the subject, the Commission hereby clarifies as follows: The import of the provisions of Section 60 of the Finance Act 2020 (December 31, 2020), is that, where dividends declared by a public company quoted on the Nigerian Exchange Limited remained unclaimed for a period of six years or more, such dividends are expected to be transferred to the Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund (UFTF) to be held in trust and managed pending when the shareholder presents a claim for such unclaimed dividends.
“Pending the setting up and operationalisation of the UFTF by the Federal Government, pursuant to its powers under Sections 3 (4) (e) and 93 of the Investments and Securities Act 2025, the Commission hereby directs public companies and their Registrars to continue to honour all requests by shareholders for the payment of unclaimed dividends as described above, with effect from December 31, 2020”.
The Commission therefore directed public companies and Registrars to effect immediate compliance with the directive and submit periodic reports on same in the manner prescribed in the Commission’s Rules and Regulations.
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has revised its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) as part of efforts to improve consistency, transparency, and service delivery in tax administration across the country.
According to a statement on Monday in Abuja by Mr. Collins Omokaro, Special Adviser on Communication Strategy and Advocacy to the Executive Chairman of FIRS, the revised SOP offers a unified framework for core tax processes including registration, payment, audit, and enforcement.
“This is about people, experience, and impact. It’s a step toward a tax system that supports voluntary compliance and national development,” Omokaro said.
He explained that while FIRS field offices have long operated with good intentions, inconsistent methods across different locations often created confusion for taxpayers.
The revised SOP, he said, is designed to eliminate such disparities by providing a single, clear roadmap for operations in all of the Service’s over 300 offices nationwide.
More than just a procedural manual, the new SOP is described as a statement of institutional direction, reflecting values that define the future of the Service.
Omokaro quoted Dr. Zacch Adedeji, executive chairman of FIRS, as saying that “This SOP is not just a technical document—it is a declaration of who we are becoming as a service. It reflects our commitment to transparency and service to the Nigerian people.”
The SOP update is one component of a broader reform agenda underway at FIRS, which aims to transform the agency into a fully service-oriented institution.
The changes are also aligned with the ongoing digital transformation within the agency, which is intended to harmonize human and technological systems for faster, more reliable, and taxpayer-friendly service delivery.
Internally, the SOP is expected to enhance operational efficiency and provide a foundation for improved staff training, clearer guidance, and stronger evaluation systems. Omokaro noted that every FIRS employee is expected to study, implement, and embody the procedures outlined in the new document.
“With this rollout, every FIRS staff member has a clear mandate: study it, apply it, and embody it. That’s how we’ll earn the trust of Nigerians,” he said.
The SOP reform is being introduced as part of the Service’s broader mission to reposition itself as a modern tax authority grounded in accountability, consistency, and a shared sense of national purpose.
The move comes as the FIRS continues to modernize its processes, improve tax collection efficiency, and foster a culture of voluntary compliance—all aimed at strengthening revenue mobilization to support Nigeria’s development agenda.
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