By Abiola Olatunde Aloba
There are investors. There are market movers. Then there are those rare individuals whose every move compels the entire market to pause, recalibrate & ask, what does he know that the rest of us don’t?
For the 2nd time in barely a week, @femiotedola has done exactly that.
Just when the investing public was still absorbing his previous acquisition of 706.13 million shares worth a staggering ₦77.58 billion, another disclosure surfaced. This time, it was even bigger.
Through Calvados Global Services, Otedola acquired an additional 1.77 billion shares in First HoldCo for an astonishing ₦222.20 billion, at an implied acquisition price of approximately ₦125.54 per share.
With that single transaction, his total holding climbed from 9.99 billion shares to 11.77 billion shares, now valued at about ₦1.47 trillion, representing approximately 25.88% of First HoldCo.
Pause for a moment & let those numbers sink in.
In just two transactions in July 2026 alone, Otedola committed an extraordinary ₦299.58 billion to acquire 2.476 billion shares. That is not merely another investment. It is one of the boldest capital deployments ever witnessed in Nigeria’s banking sector.
What makes the story even more fascinating is that this did not happen overnight. The campaign has been deliberate, disciplined & remarkably consistent.
It gathered fresh momentum in September 2025, when he acquired a combined 64,971,026 shares, directly & indirectly, at approximately ₦31 per share, investing about ₦2.01 billion & increasing his holding to 16.1%.
3 months later, in December 2025, he returned to the market, purchasing 369,986,122 shares at ₦40.06 per share, committing another ₦14.82 billion & raising his stake to 16.9%.
By May 2026, his confidence had become even more pronounced. He acquired 549,535,653 shares at ₦79 per share, investing ₦43.41 billion & increasing his interest to 18.1%.
Then came the June 2026 private placement, where he purchased 672,941,898 shares at ₦44 per share, committing ₦29.6 billion & taking his ownership to 20.4%.
The market had barely finished digesting that when July 22, 2026 arrived.
Otedola acquired another 706,131,179 shares at ₦109.88 per share, investing ₦77.59 billion & pushing his stake to 21.96%.
From September 2025 to July 22, 2026, his disclosed acquisitions alone amounted to an astonishing 2,363,465,878 shares, representing investments of approximately ₦166.83 billion.
Then came Thursday, July 30, 2026.
With one decisive move, he added another 1.77 billion shares worth ₦222.20 billion.
That single acquisition exceeded the combined value of every publicly disclosed purchase he had made over the previous ten months.
Perhaps even more remarkable is what has happened to the value of the stock itself.
From approximately ₦31 per share in September 2025 to an implied acquisition price of ₦125.54 per share in July 2026, First HoldCo’s share price has appreciated by about 305%. Put differently, every share is now worth roughly 4.05 times what it was less than a year ago.
That is the kind of appreciation every long-term investor dreams about. Naturally, a question many market watchers are beginning to ask is: How much further can this go?
Under Nigeria’s Investment and Securities Act (ISA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rules on Mergers, Takeovers and Acquisitions, a person or entity that acquires 30% or more of the voting rights in a public company is generally required to make a mandatory takeover offer to the remaining shareholders, unless a statutory or regulatory exemption applies.
With a disclosed holding of approximately 25.88%, Otedola remains below that threshold for now but 4.12℅ more might not be a no-go area! Whether he intends to stop there or continue his remarkable acquisition campaign is a question only time can answer.
One thing, however, is becoming increasingly difficult to dispute. This is no longer simply about buying shares. It is about conviction. It is about patience.
It is about deploying enormous capital with uncommon confidence when others are still trying to understand the play. History often remembers the outcomes of bold decisions. Rarely does it allow us to watch them unfold in real time.
The Nigerian capital market is witnessing one of those moments. And whether one agrees with the strategy or not, Femi Otedola has ensured that his investment campaign in First HoldCo will be studied for many years to come.
