The board of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has announced that Mr Jubril Aku, the current Managing Director of its largest subsidiary, Ecobank Nigeria Limited, will step down from his current role at the end of this year, having concluded his five year tenure in office.

According to a statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr Aku will be taking on another senior role in the firm in the first quarter of 2016. The Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ade Ayeyemi, said: Jibril has been instrumental in leading the Ecobank franchise to its position in the Nigeria banking industry today.

With the Oceanic Bank acquisition, Jibril positioned the bank from number 13 to its current position of number six. On his part, Mr Aku said: I am proud of what the team and I have achieved together, and I thank them for the good work and their unwavering commitment to Ecobank.

Our Board stood with us, and was steadfast in its support. I must, therefore, extend my sincere appreciation to the Board and the team. Despite some of the market challenges that we faced over the years, our customers have always been loyal, and it is their patronage that led to the achievements we see today.

In a similar vein, the Chairman of the Ecobank Nigeria Board, Mr John Aboh, also congratulated Mr Aku for the good work achieved, and said he looked forward to the Bank improving on the good work that the team had accomplished. The board said they will immediately activate the process of selecting a successor, which will be will be announced before the end of December 2015.

Mr Aku, spent the most part of his banking career with Citibank (Nigeria International Bank), before joining former Afribank Nigeria Plc as Executive Director, Operations & Technology from 2003 to 2005.

Thereafter, he joined Ecobank Nigeria in 2006 as Executive Director responsible for the Bank Treasury & Financial Institutions business, following which he was subsequently appointed Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria in 2010.