Diamond Bank MD Alex Otti resigns Voluntarily

The board of Diamond Bank Plc has announced the voluntary resignation of Alex Otti, the group managing director/chief executive officer, from the bank. Uzoma Dozie will take over from him subject to the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In a statement released by the bank’s corporate communications department, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, chairman of the board of directors and Obi of Onitsha, announced the changes in the management team.

Speaking on the outgoing GMD/CEO, the chairman said he would be sorely missed, adding that Alex Otti achieved enviable landmarks during his time. He described his tenure as “the brightest years of Diamond Bank’s 24-year history”.

“Alex Otti is a fine gentleman with an outstanding career in the Nigerian banking industry. We are pleased with the time he spent at the helms of affairs of Diamond Bank Plc and wish him every success in his future endeavours,” Igwe Achebe added.

Under Alex Otti’s stewardship, Diamond Bank made a remarkable return to profitability and has continued to record impressive growth across all performance indicators year-on-year. After writing off toxic risk assets which resulted in the loss of N16 billion in 2011, the bank posted a profit before tax of N28.36 billion in 2012 and N32.5 billion in 2013. The bank also saw its total assets rise from N564.9 billion in February 2011 to N1.18 trillion by December 31, 2012 and N1.52 trillion on December 31, 2013.

He is credited with creating the office of the chief risk officer and designating an executive director to head the department. He also spear-headed the expansion of the bank by doubling the full staff count from around 2,000 in 2010 to over 4,000 as at mid-2014, even as he vigorously grew the bank’s footprints from a network of 210 branches in 2011 to over 265 branches three years later. It was also under his watch that the bank established an international subsidiary in the United Kingdom, in addition to expansion in Francophone West Africa (Senegal, Togo, and Ivory Coast).

It is to be noted that the central bank only recently classified the bank as one of the eight systematically important banks in Nigeria under his watch.

So what next?

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