Nigerian banks, to keep their directors, and chief executives happy, spent over N6.96 billion on sitting allowance and compensation in 2021, according to Ripplesnigeria.

This is a 3.32 per cent increase when compared to N6.74bn the directors received in 2020.

The expenditure is captured in the financial results of 10 banks publicly listed on the Nigerian Exchange for the full year ended December 31, 2021.

The 10 banks are United Bank for Africa Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, FBN Holdings and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc.

Others are Union Bank for Nigeria Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, FCMB Group Plc, Wema Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and Unity Bank Plc.

A breakdown shows Zenith Bank, followed by Stanbic IBTC Holdings, reported the highest sitting allowances and compensation, while Unity Bank reported the least.

Zenith Bank in 2021 reported a total of N1.65bn executive compensation, fees and sitting allowances, an increase of 18.06 per cent from the N1.4bn reported in 2020.

For Stanbic IBTC Holdings, the total sitting allowance and compensation to its directors rose by 19.9 per cent to N1.672m in 2021 from N1.394m reported in 2020.

FBN Holdings’ executive sitting allowances and compensation rose by 15.7 per cent to N162m in 2021 from N140m in 2020.

GTCO executive compensation dropped to N757.35m in 2021 from N921.36m in 2020, and UBA’s executive compensation, fees and sitting allowances dropped from N762m in 2020 to N714m in 2021.

For FCMB Group, N828.12m was spent on the welfare of directors in 2021, an increase of 22.9 per cent from N674.09m in 2020, while Union Bank of Nigeria Plc reported a 9.6 per cent drop in its directors’ sitting allowance and executive compensation to N525m in 2021 from N581m 2020.

As Wema Bank reported N297.84m executive compensation/fees for the second consecutive year, Unity Bank grew its sitting allowances by 3.9 per cent to N38.6m in 2021 from N37.15 in 2020.

In addition, Fidelity Bank reported N312m executive compensation, fees, and sitting allowances in 2021, a decline of 41 per cent from N529m reported in 2020.