Founder and group chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, has retired following the expiration of his tenure.

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His retirement announcement was made on Tuesday at the bank’s 35th Annual General Meeting.
The bank said Ovia stepped down after completing the mandatory 12 years as a non-executive director and chairman, in compliance with the corporate governance guidelines issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The National Coordinator of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Moses Igbrude, who confirmed the development to TVC News Online, said, “Yes, he did at the  AGM.”
The bank also appointed Mustafa Bello as the new chairman, with the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Bello, who joined the board in December 2017, is its longest-serving director.
In July 2023, the CBN approved a new code of corporate governance, specifying that the tenure of a bank’s managing director or chief executive officer (CEO) may not exceed 12 years.
Before this, the regulator issued a policy mandating bank executive directors (EDs), deputy managing directors (DMDs), managing directors (MDs), and non-executive directors (NEDs) to only serve a cumulative tenure of 20 years across the banking industry.