Heritage Bank has appointed Akinola George-Taylor as its acting managing director/chief executive officer.The bank also announced the appointments of two executive directors, Osepiribo Ben-Willie and George Oko-Oboh.
The lender in a statement on Monday said, George-Taylor, a seasoned banker, will take over leadership from Ifie Sekibo, the founder and pioneer managing director/CEO of the bank, who has served his 10 years tenure in accordance with the bank’s term limits for chief executives, having headed it since 2012.
“As an experienced banker with over two decades working in the banking and financial services sector, Akinola George-Taylor has a proven track record in managing multi-billion Naira operations.
“He started his banking career in 1993 with GTBank where George-Taylor rose to the position of Executive Director in charge of Public Sector Group, Abuja & North Central. Whilst at the Bank, he has held various positions in different business sectors. He was also the Managing Director of GTBank in Sierra Leone between 2005 to 2009,” the bank said.
According to the bank, “Osepiribo Ben-Willie is an accomplished banker with over two decades experience of which she has been leading business transformation initiatives at various levels within the financial service space. Ben-Willie is currently the Directorate Head South-South, South-East & Private Wealth Management Team in Heritage Bank Plc. She has worked in the following banking institutions Credite Bank Nigeria Limited, Diamond Bank, Zenith Bank and Stanbic IBTC.
“George Oko-Oboh currently heads the Abuja and North Directorate Business of Heritage Bank Plc where he plays a pivotal role in the business growth and daily operations of all businesses and transactions as it relates to his area of supervision. Oko-Oboh is an accomplished financial services professional with over two decades of banking experience functioning in various leading business roles spanning Retail, SME, Commercial, Public Sector, Collections, Funding Advisory and Corporate Negotiations.
Heritage Bank emerged from a business combination of Heritage Banking Company Limited (HBCL) and Enterprise Bank Limited (EBL) after the acquisition of Societe Generale of Nigeria’s (SGBN) license by IEI Investment Ltd from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) having met all requirements by Nigeria’s apex bank in 2012. The bank thereafter returned 100% of existing SGBN account holders’ funds which were frozen at the closure of the SGBN. This move brought a lot of smiles to the faces of former account holders and inspired many of them to open new accounts with Heritage Bank.
In October 2014, the lender successfully met the requirements of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) and the CBN toward owning 100% shares in Enterprise Bank Ltd., after a highly competitive bid process.