Tokunbo Abiru, Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Polaris Bank, is set to resign his appointment this week, Daily Independent has exclusively gathered.
Abiru, a former Commissioner for Finance in the state during Governor Babatunde Fashola’s second term, is also expected to announce his entrance into the race for Lagos East Senatorial District bye-election which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed for Saturday October 31, 2020.
A member of the Governors Advisory Council (GAC) in Lagos said Abiru, who has been nominated by the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a replacement for the late Senator Bayo Osinowo, who represented Lagos East Senatorial District until his death in June, will pick up the expression of interest and nomination forms during the week.
He also said the party has already set up the campaign committee of Abiru which will be formally announced to the public after he has picked and submitted his forms.
The campaign committee is headed by a former member of the Lagos State House of Assembly from Epe division.
Although a credible source in the bank said Abiru, had already made his intention to resign known to the board pending an approval from Godwin Emefiele, the Central Bank governor, another source in the bank who asked not to be named said it is not true that Abiru has resigned. He, however, remained silent on his senatorial ambition.
Efforts made to confirm the report from Rasheed Bolarinwa, the bank’s Head, Corporate Communications, proved abortive as he could not be reached.
Daily Independent had in its July 29 edition titled ‘Lagos East Bye-Election: APC Picks Abiru, Polaris Bank MD, As Osinowo’s Replacement’ reported that the bank chief is the choice of APC leaders, including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the party’s national leader for the vacant post.
However, Abiru in a statement denied the report, saying that while he holds the public service in high esteem, his time and energy at this time was primarily devoted towards building a world-class financial brand that will serve the interest of all stakeholders of the bank.
He further restated that he is working assiduously with his team to consolidate the bank’s stellar performance which resulted in a profit before tax (PBT) of N27.8 billion in the 2019 financial year, being its first year of operation.
Abiru acknowledged that having served as a former commissioner under the then leadership of Babatunde Fashola (SAN), it is not unexpected that such rumours and sentiments could sometimes spring up in some quarters.
He also advised the staff and customers of Polaris Bank as well as regulators, local and international stakeholders to disregard such stories expressing his commitment to his current mandate in Polaris Bank.
In a related development, senatorial aspirants jostling for tickets of the APC in the forthcoming legislative bye-elections are to pick expression of interest and nomination forms for N7 million each.
House of Assembly aspirants are to procure same forms for N850, 000 each while female and physically challenged aspirants are to pay 50 percent of the prescribed fees for each position.
These details were contained in APC’s time-table and schedule of activities for conduct of the 2020 concurrent legislative bye-elections across eight states at the weekend by the Director of Organisation, Professor Medaner Ussiju Al-Mustapha in Abuja.
