Tony Elumelu is betting big on UBA again. The bank’s chairman has acquired an additional N43.91 billion worth of shares over just two days, showing clear confidence in the lender’s future.
As revealed in a regulatory filing submitted to the Nigerian Exchange Group by UBA’s Group Company Secretary, Bili Odum, the purchases took place between the 29th and 30th of May, 2025.
During this window, Elumelu bought 1,267,669,350 shares at an average price of N34.64 per share. A closer look at the filing shows that he purchased 50 million shares at varying prices N34.70, N34.65, N34.75, and N34.55 along with an extra 17,669,350 shares at N34.70 per share.
This flurry of transactions followed an earlier deal on the 23rd of May, where he bought 45,034,044 shares at N34.30 each, spending roughly N1.53 billion.
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Elumelu had made his intentions known as far back as the 25th of May, 2024, when he publicly declared plans to increase his ownership in the bank.
His latest moves come as UBA positions itself to meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s new capital requirement. The CBN now mandates that commercial banks with international licenses boost their capital base to N500 billion.
Currently, UBA stands at N355.2 billion and is preparing to raise N144.8 billion in the third quarter of 2025 to meet the target. Elumelu has promised that the bank will complete the capital raise before the deadline.