Basil Omiyi retires as Stanbic IBTC Holdings chairman

Basil Omiyi retires as Stanbic IBTC Holdings chairman

Mr Basil Omiyi has retired as Chairman of Stanbic IBTC Holdings after seven years of heading the group.

He joined Stanbic IBTC in March 2015 as a Non-Executive Director before becoming the group’s chair on May 15, 2017, replacing Atedo Peterside.

According to the press release by the group, a new board chairman has been approved and will be announced at a future date after receiving regulatory approvals. The group also appreciated Mr. Omiyi for his contributions as the chairman, noting,

“The Board of Directors acknowledge and sincerely express their profound gratitude to Mr. Omiyi, CON for his leadership, service and immense contributions to the Stanbic IBTC Group while he was a Director and Chairman of the Board and wishes him the very best in all his future endeavours.”

Omiyi’s retirement from Stanbic’s board comes barely two months after his exit as the Non-Executive Chairman of Seplat Energy Plc in March 2024. He became Seplat’s Chairman in May 2022, after holding a position on the oil company’s board as an Independent Non-Executive Director.

In Seplat, he was replaced by Udoma Udo Udoma, Nigeria’s former Minister for Budget and National Planning between 2015 and 2019. However, the time leading up to his departure from Seplat was marked by corporate conflicts, which led to the resignation of a director, Professor Fabian Ajogwu.

Basil Omiyi as Chairman of Stanbic IBTC
During his period as Chairman of Stanbic IBTC, the group’s net income grew by 190.5% from N48.4 billion as of FY 2017 to N140.6 billion as of FY 2023. The group’s gross earnings grew by 117% within those seven years, from N212.4 billion as of 2017 to N461.1 billion as of 2023, representing an average annual growth rate of 16.7%.

In his last year as Chairman, he oversaw the launch of Zest Payments, the group’s fintech arm which offers e-commerce and Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) services.

Basil Omiyi corporate exploits
Before his appointment as Stanbic IBTC Chairman, he had spent much of his career at Royal Dutch Shell, where he held various positions in Nigeria and Europe, including Head of Production Technology, Chief Petroleum Engineer, Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, and eventually, Country Chairman of Shell Nigeria.

He still serves as the Chairman of Greenacres Energy Limited, and he served as the Chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Industry Group. He served as a board member of Nigerian Business Group of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI).