Femi Otedola spent much of the last decade building one of Nigeria’s most valuable power investments. Less than a year after surrendering control of that business, his capital is moving in a different direction.
The billionaire has sharply increased his exposure to First HoldCo, the parent company of FirstBank, while separately signalling plans to invest $100 million in Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
His latest First HoldCo transaction is the clearest sign yet of that shift.
Calvados Global Services Limited, an investment vehicle associated with Otedola, acquired 1.779 billion First HoldCo shares at ₦124.90 each, putting the transaction value at approximately ₦222.2 billion. The purchase increased his beneficial interest to about 25.88%.
It came shortly after another July purchase of 706.1 million shares worth roughly ₦77.6 billion.
Together, those two transactions amount to almost ₦300 billion committed to First HoldCo in July alone.
But the more interesting story is not another percentage increase in Otedola’s shareholding.
It is what appears to be happening to his investment portfolio.
After years of concentrating capital in power generation, Femi Otedola is increasingly positioning himself around banking and large-scale industrial assets. The strategy raises a bigger question: is Nigeria watching another major capital rotation from one of its most aggressive billionaire investors?
What Happened to Otedola’s Geregu Investment?
Geregu was one of Otedola’s defining investments.
His investment vehicle, Amperion Power Distribution Company, acquired control of the power plant following Nigeria’s electricity privatisation programme and eventually became the dominant shareholder.
The company was subsequently listed on the Nigerian Exchange in October 2022.
By the end of 2024, Amperion still owned about 78% of Geregu Power, which operates a 435MW gas-fired plant in Kogi State.
That changed dramatically on December 29, 2025.
An official NGX filing showed that MA’AM Energy Limited acquired a 95% equity interest in Amperion. The transaction transferred the indirect controlling interest previously held by Calvados Global Services and Otedola in 77% of Geregu Power’s issued shares.
Importantly, Geregu itself said the transaction did not involve a direct sale of Geregu shares. It was a change in ownership of the company that controlled the majority shareholder.
Media reports valued the transaction at around $750 million, while TheCable reported a value of ₦1.088 trillion. The official Geregu announcement did not disclose the consideration, so those figures should be treated as reported transaction values rather than company-confirmed numbers.
What is clear is that Otedola gave up the controlling position that had made Geregu the centrepiece of his power-sector portfolio.
Why Leave Power After Building So Much Value?
Otedola has since provided part of the answer himself.
During a May visit to Dangote Petroleum Refinery, he said the Geregu divestment was partly intended to free capital for investment in the refinery’s planned share sale.
He said he hoped to acquire about $100 million worth of shares through the refinery’s private placement ahead of a proposed IPO.
That suggests the Geregu transaction was not simply an exit.
It was capital recycling.
Otedola had taken a power-generation asset through restructuring, expansion and public-market listing. Selling control allowed him to monetise years of value creation and redirect capital towards businesses he believes have greater future upside.
The pattern is not entirely new.
Before Geregu became his central investment, Otedola had built a large position in downstream petroleum through African Petroleum, later Forte Oil. He sold his controlling interest in that business before concentrating on electricity generation.
Now another transition appears to be underway.
Power is no longer the centre.
Financial services is.
Why Is First HoldCo Becoming Such a Large Bet?
Otedola described First HoldCo in 2025 as his “best bet yet” while outlining plans to rebuild the group around stronger governance, lending discipline, digital infrastructure and profitability.
He also said he expected to have invested more than ₦320 billion in the group by the end of its capital raise.
His actions since then have gone considerably further.
At the end of 2025, Otedola held about 18.1% of First HoldCo, equivalent to around 8.06 billion shares.
In May 2026, Calvados purchased another 549.5 million shares for ₦43.4 billion. A June private placement added approximately 672.9 million shares for ₦29.6 billion, lifting his interest to about 20.4%.
Then came the July buying spree.
With the latest acquisition, his beneficial interest is now about 25.88%, based on the latest transaction disclosure.
This is no longer a conventional billionaire portfolio investment.
It is becoming a concentrated strategic position in one of Nigeria’s largest financial groups.
Is Otedola Buying After First HoldCo’s Turnaround?
The timing is difficult to ignore.
First HoldCo reported profit before tax of ₦653.54 billion for the first six months of 2026, an 83.5% increase from ₦356.15 billion a year earlier.
Profit after tax increased to ₦526.13 billion, while total assets reached ₦30.65 trillion. Customer deposits rose to ₦21.93 trillion and net loans stood at ₦9.51 trillion.
The market has noticed.
First HoldCo’s share price rose from ₦47.90 at the start of 2026 to more than ₦100 by July as investors responded to its improving earnings and balance-sheet performance.
Otedola is therefore not accumulating shares after a collapse in valuation.
He is continuing to buy as the stock becomes considerably more expensive.
The latest transaction at ₦124.90 per share makes that particularly significant.
Investors typically receive fewer shares for each naira as prices rise. Continuing to commit large amounts of capital despite that appreciation suggests Otedola believes the value-creation story has further to run.
That does not guarantee that the shares are undervalued.
But it demonstrates conviction.
Is Banking Replacing Energy in Otedola’s Portfolio?
Not completely.
Otedola’s planned $100 million Dangote Refinery investment means he is not abandoning energy.
Instead, the structure of his exposure appears to be changing.
Geregu gave him control of an operating power company.
Dangote Refinery, assuming the investment proceeds, would be a minority financial investment in a massive industrial energy business.
First HoldCo is different again.
Otedola is both chairman and the largest shareholder, giving him considerably more influence over corporate strategy than a passive shareholder would ordinarily possess.
That creates a portfolio spanning two very different themes.
First HoldCo offers exposure to banking, lending, digital finance, asset management and the expansion of financial services across Africa.
Dangote Refinery offers exposure to Nigeria’s attempt to replace petroleum imports with domestic refining and become a regional supplier of fuels.
Both are large-scale bets on structural changes in the Nigerian economy.
What Does the Capital Rotation Tell Us About Otedola’s Strategy?
Otedola’s investment history suggests a preference for concentrated positions rather than spreading money thinly across dozens of companies.
His earlier trajectory moved from petroleum marketing into power generation.
At Geregu, the strategy involved taking a major position, improving the underlying asset, expanding its commercial value and eventually bringing the company to the public market.
First HoldCo now has several characteristics of another turnaround investment.
Otedola has repeatedly focused on legacy problems, non-performing loans, governance, costs and operational discipline as areas requiring change within the group.
The difference is scale.
First HoldCo had ₦30.65 trillion in assets by June 2026. Turning around a financial institution of that size is a fundamentally different challenge from rebuilding a single power generation company.
It also means the potential value creation and the risks are much larger.
From Building Companies to Recycling Capital
The important development is therefore not simply that Femi Otedola bought another 1.78 billion First HoldCo shares.
It is that those shares fit into a much larger repositioning.
He surrendered control of Geregu Power in December.
He has indicated plans to put $100 million into Dangote Refinery.
And he has continued increasing a First HoldCo position that has grown from 18.1% at the end of 2025 to about 25.88% seven months later.
There is no public evidence showing that specific naira from the Geregu transaction directly funded the latest First HoldCo purchases, so the transactions should not be presented that way.
But the direction of Otedola’s portfolio is increasingly clear.
One of Nigeria’s best-known investors is moving away from owning and controlling a power-generation business and committing significantly more capital to financial services, while retaining an interest in the next generation of Nigerian energy infrastructure through his planned refinery investment.
Geregu was a major wealth-creation chapter.
The question now is whether First HoldCo becomes the next one.