Having successfully completed his second two-year tenure at the helm of the bank, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Polaris Bank Limited, Mr. Tokunbo Abiru, has announced his retirement from the service of the bank, effective August 31, 2020.
In a farewell message to the staff of the bank, Abiru explained that having served in the banking industry for nearly three decades, he had resolved to retire to enable him contribute his quota in other areas of the society.
Going down memory lane, he reminded staff of the Bank’s poor state before he assumed office in 2016 as the Group Managing Director of the erstwhile Skye Bank.
He praised the staff for working with him to reverse the trend and bring about an institution that has become a compelling case study in corporate turnaround within Nigeria’s financial services industry.
In his words: “We have reversed almost all regulatory ratios for good and currently rank amongst the very best in the industry. There can be no better testament to the much-improved state of the Bank than the full year 2019 results in which the Bank posted Profit After Tax of N27billion.
“To buttress the fact that this is sustainable, the Bank’s first half 2020 result showed a PAT of over N18billion, despite the tremendous headwinds brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We also commenced the refreshment of the Bank’s IT infrastructure, which had largely become outdated and dilapidated due to years of under-investment.
“As a result of the successful completion of the first phase of the IT Refresh Program, which consisted mainly of upgrade of the infrastructure and digital platforms, and relocation of the Bank’s Data Centres to Tier III data locations as mandated by CBN regulations and in line with global best practices, the Bank’s customers are now experiencing significantly improved service delivery”.