First Bank of Nigeria has come out strongly debunking allegations of fraud in the bank as alluded by Dr. Agbai Eke as entirely unfounded and false.

In a statement signed by Olayinka Ijabiyi, acting group head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, the financial behemoth stated that its findings on the matter indicate unprofessional and unethical dealings between Dr. Agbai Eke and a former FirstBank employee, using a personal relationship to facilitate unauthorized transactions outside the bank's knowledge or involvement.

“As the matter is currently before the Court, we will refrain from further comments to allow the Court to dispassionately determine the issues before it. The Bank has equally filed a report to law enforcements for further proper investigations and the suspects have made useful statements while the investigations are ongoing.

“FirstBank remains committed to transparency, accountability, and the protection of its customers' interests. We assure our stakeholders that we operate with the highest standards of integrity and professionalism, the statement explained.

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, established in 1894, is the premier bank in West Africa, a leading financial inclusion services provider in Africa, and a digital banking giant.

The bank’s international footprints cut across three continents ─ Africa, Europe and Asia, with FirstBank UK Limited in London and Paris; FirstBank in The Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea and Sierra Leone; FBNBank in Senegal; and a FirstBank Representative Office in Beijing, China. All the subsidiary banks are fully registered by their respective Central Banks to provide full banking services.

Besides providing domestic banking services, the subsidiaries also engage in international cross-border transactions with FirstBank’s non-Nigerian subsidiaries, and the representative offices in Paris and China facilitate trade flows from Asia and Europe into Nigeria and other African countries.

For 130 years, FirstBank has built an outstanding reputation for solid relationships, good corporate governance, and a strong liquidity position, and has been at the forefront of promoting digital payment in the country with over 13 million cards issued to customers (the first bank to achieve such a milestone in Nigeria). FirstBank has continued to make significant investments in technology, innovation and transformation, and its cashless transaction drive has been steadily accentuated with virtually 23 million active FirstBank customers signed up on digital channels including the USSD Quick Banking service through the nationally renowned *894# Banking code.

With over 42 million customer accounts (including digital wallets) spread across Nigeria, UK and sub-Saharan Africa, the Bank provides a comprehensive range of retail and wholesale financial services through more than 820 business offices and over 233,500 agent locations spread across 772 out of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria.

In addition to banking solutions and services, FirstBank provides pension fund custody services in Nigeria through First Pension Custodian Nigeria Limited and nominee and associated services through First Nominees Nigeria Limited.