In Nigeria's capital markets, there are signals, and then there are statements. Wednesday's transaction from Femi Otedola falls firmly in the second category.
Olufemi Otedola, chairman of First HoldCo Plc, has further strengthened his position in the group following a fresh share acquisition valued at approximately ₦43.41 billion. The acquisition, executed on the Nigerian Exchange on May 13, 2026, involved the purchase of 549,535,653 units at an average price of ₦79 per share.
The shares were purchased through Calvados Global Services Limited, a company related to Otedola, and disclosed in an insider dealing notice filed with the Nigerian Exchange. Following the transaction, Otedola's stake in First HoldCo has climbed from 8,055,314,486 units reported in the FY 2025 audited accounts to 8,604,850,139 shares representing 19.35% of the company's 44.45 billion outstanding ordinary shares, up from 18.12%.
The purchase is his largest single open-market acquisition since he took the chairman's seat in January 2024, and his most expensive on a per-share basis. His accumulation trail tells the story clearly: a 13.15% stake in September 2024, ₦2 billion in additional shares in September 2025, ₦14.8 billion at ₦40.06 per share in December 2025, and now ₦43.41 billion at ₦79, nearly double his December entry price.
The timing is deliberate on multiple fronts. First HoldCo's Q1 2026 results, released days earlier, showed pre-tax profit jumping 72.20% to ₦321.12 billion, compared to ₦186.48 billion in Q1 2025, while profit after tax rose 56.52% to ₦267.80 billion. Interest earnings rose to ₦704.4 billion from ₦625.2 billion, while operating profit reached ₦320 billion from ₦186.6 billion, a result that placed First HoldCo firmly among Nigeria's top-tier banking performers.
The AGM dimension adds further strategic context. First HoldCo's annual general meeting is scheduled for May 29, 2026, at which shareholders will be asked to approve a ₦253 billion fresh capital raise, targeting a ₦1 trillion paid-up capital base, an ambition Otedola has publicly championed.
Nigeria is also scheduled for reclassification into the FTSE Russell Frontier Market Index in September 2026, a structural event analysts expect to pull institutional flows into large-cap, liquid NGX stocks, a description that First HoldCo fits precisely.
Otedola's total direct and indirect holdings in First HoldCo now stand at approximately 8.60 billion shares, currently valued at about ₦612.67 billion, a position that makes him not merely a significant shareholder but an increasingly dominant force in shaping one of Nigeria's oldest and most consequential financial institutions.
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