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Nigeria’s banks made more money in 2025 and their CEOs got paid more too.

With interest rates staying elevated for most of the year, banks cashed in on wider margins, repriced loans aggressively, and grew interest income at a pace not seen in years.

Collectively, ten listed lenders posted N26.3 trillion in gross earnings in 2025, up from N23.5 trillion a year earlier.

Interest income alone surged to N18.6 trillion from N14.3 trillion, highlighting how strongly banks benefited from Nigeria’s high-yield environment despite rising loan provisioning costs and pressure on asset quality.

That earnings boom filtered directly into executive compensation. The combined remuneration of seven bank CEOs tracked by this report climbed to N2.15 billion in 2025, compared to N1.56 billion in 2024, a jump of N584 million or 37.3% year-on-year.

Executive pay reflected a banking sector navigating one of its most profitable and competitive periods in recent history. Several lenders are simultaneously pursuing recapitalisation, digital expansion, regional growth, and leadership restructuring, placing a premium on executives tasked with delivering growth in an increasingly complex operating environment.

Sterling Financial Holdings Company did not report its directors’ emoluments in its latest financial disclosures, while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated also did not provide a breakdown of directors’ pay in its most recent filings. Meanwhile, FCMB Group has yet to release its full 2025 financial results, leaving a gap in the final compensation picture across the tier-two banking space.

For some CEOs, the increases were marginal. For others, especially newly elevated executives and transformation-era leaders, compensation more than doubled.

Below is a breakdown of Nigeria’s highest-earning bank CEOs in 2025 and how their pay compares with the previous year.

Adebowale Oyedeji posted one of the sharpest increases in executive remuneration among Nigerian banking leaders in 2025. His compensation at FirstHoldco rose to N195 million from N97 million in 2024, representing a 101% increase.

FirstHoldCo, the parent company of First Bank of Nigeria, remains one of the country’s oldest and most systemically important financial institutions. The group has undergone strategic restructuring aimed at improving governance, operational efficiency, and long-term profitability.

Oyedeji is regarded as a seasoned financial executive with experience spanning investment banking, corporate finance, and institutional strategy. His leadership role comes at a time when the group is repositioning its banking operations amid industry recapitalisation and regulatory reforms.