Segun Atanda/
The Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) has denied claims that the Federal Government has acquired a 25 percent stake in First Bank Holdings (First Holdco), describing recent media reports on the matter as “inaccurate, misleading, and malicious”.
A press statement released from the State House and signed by Kamarudeen Ogundele, Special Assistant to the President on Communication and Publicity, categorically dismissed a report published by ThisDay Newspaper and broadcast on Arise TV suggesting that the Federal Government had secured a controlling interest in the banking giant.
“The report is inaccurate, misleading, resentful and malicious,” Ogundele stated. “Neither the Federal Government nor the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice participated in acquiring the shares in question.”
The AGF’s office clarified that while it is aware of a trustee arrangement involving First Holdco, this was a private sector initiative, fully supervised by Stanbic IBTC as an independent third-party trustee, with approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to the statement, the First Holdco shareholding structure remains strictly independent of government influence, and the narrative portraying a federal takeover is “a deliberate distortion of facts.”
The AGF’s office also issued a stern caution to media organizations, urging “restraint, professionalism, and due diligence” in their reportage, warning that peddling falsehoods could amount to legal infractions.
Reaffirming the government’s stance, the statement emphasized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration remains committed to “the Rule of Law, Justice, equity, accountability, transparency, and service to the nation.”
The rebuttal comes amid rising speculation and market anxiety following the reports of government involvement in First Holdco’s shareholder dynamics.
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