Crisis As GTBank MD Designate Miriam Olusanya Lands in Messy Divorce Scandal

Crisis As GTBank MD Designate Miriam Olusanya Lands in Messy Divorce Scandal

THECONSCIENCEng reports that Miriam Olusanya, Guaranty Trust Bank GTB’s Executive Director and Managing Director designate, has been embroiled in a messy divorce saga.

Divorce papers from an American Court sighted by our correspondent revealed that the embattled banker has indeed been involved in a divorce mess with her husband and are in legal litigation.

It was gathered that crisis has been brewing for GTBank Miriam Olusanya who has been separated from her husband, Mr Abiodun Olusanya for some time until things finally got to the head leading to the divorce mess in the United States of America (USA).

The divorce papers obtained, with the case type: “PETITION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE” has Olusanya Abiodun as the plaintiff (husband) and Miriam Olusanya (wife) as the defendant. The divorce case was instituted in January 2020, in Lincolnwood, Illinois, United States.

Meanwhile, THECONSCIENCEng reports that Miriam Olusanya who is responsible for the Wholesale Banking Division of GTBank, which comprises of the Asset and Liability Management, Trading and Sales as well as the Corporate Finance Groups, has also been at the centre of a major succession battle as a landmark management restructuring is at the final stages of completion at GTB, one of Nigeria’s most respected commercial banks.

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Other initial contenders were Ademola Odeyemi, Bolaji Lawal, Haruna Musa, and Babajide Okunola but the favoured Olusanya seemed to have knocked them all off.

Reliable sources confirmed that outgoing Managing Director, Segun Agbaje made serious moves to ensure Miriam Olusanya, his close associate and preferred candidate emerges as the next Managing Director in a deliberate bid to consolidate his grip and influence on the bank once he becomes Group CEO.

Agbaje is alleged to be interested in taking over the entire managerial dynasty from the original founders of the bank, Fola Adeola and late Tayo Aderinokun.

The absence of a substantive Deputy Managing Director, who would have easily stepped into the shoes of Agbaje further complicated the puzzle, as Banjo Adegboungbe, the former DMD, was appointed in February 2020 as the substantive MD/CEO of Coronation Merchant Bank, and has since not been replaced.

Segun Agbaje is being positioned to take up the MD/CEO role at GT Holding Company, according to an insider report.

Interestingly, the succession battle has generated not a few ripples across stakeholders and top hierarchy of the bank, leading to a major corporate pandemonium with alleged cases of forced resignation and heated internal wranglings bursting out.

As seen in an internal memo dated April 28, 2021, the bank also carried out a major management shakeup targeted at staff above the age of 45. Two of the oldest Executive Directors and four General Managers out of 9 were retired, with plans to replace them with younger executives mostly under the age of 45 to take charge.

Already, these changes, which are expected to take effect by end of this month – May 31, 2021, triggered the resignation of and affected Bolaji Lawal (ED in charge of Digital Banking), Jide Okunola, Ademola Odeyemi, and Segun Fadahunsi, (GM, Systems and Control). Others include George Uwakwe – GM Risk, Femi Akerewusi – GM Corporate Bank, Lagos Mainland, and Subuola Abraham – Chief Compliance Officer.

According to the recent memo, the bank appointed Thomas John as the Managing Director of GTB West Africa and Bayo Veracruz as the Managing Director of GTB East Africa.

In line with its mission to transition to a full-fledged digital bank, the company also appointed Olayinka Odusote as Divisional Head, Digital Banking while Ijeoma Esemudje was appointed Divisional Head Corporate Bank Mainland & Agriculture.

In 2020, Agbaje had hinted that GTBank was shopping for a new Managing Director, noting that the five Executive Directors were already going through a process that would leave one of them at the helm of affairs of the bank.

“We are working with a consulting firm in the UK ….. at the end of this process which will end at the beginning of the fourth quarter, we will have a Managing Director for GT Bank Nigeria,” Agbaje disclosed during the bank’s investor earnings call in September 2020,

There’s no been no official public communication from the bank yet on the appointment of Miriam Olusanya and efforts to get the bank’s reaction on the divorce saga was unsuccessful but stakeholders are awaiting the GTBank’s board decisions in view of the circumstances.

Miriam Olusanya, who serves as an Executive Director at GTbank has over 20 years of banking experience across various units including Transaction Services, Asset and Liability Management, Financial Markets, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations.

She joined GTbank In 1998 as an Executive Trainee and rose to the position of a General Manager until she was appointed Executive Director.

According to her public profile, Miriam Olusanya holds a Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science degree from the University of Ibadan (1995) and a Masters of Business Administration (Finance and Accounting) from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom (2011).