By OBINNA CHIMA

The Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of MTN Nigeria, Ferdinand Moolman; Oando Plc, Wale Tinubu; Seplat Petroleum Development Company’s outgoing Augustine Avuru, and GTBank’s Segun Agbaje, have been listed among the top 10 highest earning executives in the country.

This was disclosed in a report by Proshare Nigeria Limited titled: “CEO Remuneration: Paying the CEO in a Pandemic, the Unanswered Questions,” obtained on Thursday.

It showed that at N585.94 million per annum, the CEO of MTN Nigeria, Ferdinand Moolman, received the highest remuneration in the country in 2019. He was closely followed by the Group CEO of Oando Plc, Wale Tinubu, who earned a total of N568 million.

The outgoing CEO of Seplat Petroleum Development Company, Ojenekwu Augustine Avuru, who steps down Thursday (today) after leading the company for 10 years, came in third as he was paid a total of N440 million as remuneration, it stated.

The report disclosed that at a total of N399.7 million, the CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, occupied the fourth position and is the highest earning bank CEO.

The report pointed out that in Nigeria, the sectors that appear to be the most rewarding in terms of executive remuneration are the oil & gas sector, banking sector, telecommunication sector as well as the consumer goods sector.

“The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic would most likely lead to a change in the narrative of the most profitable sector in Nigeria. The virus has negatively affected the oil sector in Nigeria. Due to the restrictions in movements, there has been a decline in the demand for oil which hurt sales revenue and profit.

The banking sector has also not been spared from the crisis. The oil sector appears to be the largest recipient of loan credits from banks, but due to the decline in oil sales and uncertainty that has hit the sector, banks have had to increase their loan impairments which have affected their profitability.

“During pandemics, consumers tend to focus on the purchase of essential commodities. Firms in the consumer goods industry will react differently to the pandemic virus. Firms that produce essential commodities would not be greatly affected by the spread of the virus (in terms of demand for their product) but they are not immune from disruptions in global supply chains, while other firms that produce other types of consumer goods would have to rethink their strategies to boost sales amidst the health crisis.” (THISDAY)

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