Nigeria’s oldest indigenous bank, most innovative and pioneer of Africa’s first fully digital bank, ALAT Wema Bank, has released its FY 2025 Audited Financial Results, achieving record-breaking growth and unparalleled performance across several key metrics.

Key figures include the doubling of the Bank’s Profit Before Tax (PBT) from ₦102.5bn in FY 2024 to ₦221.9bn, an impressive 116.4% increase. Profit After Tax (PAT) also surged by 125.4% from FY 2024’s ₦86.2bn to ₦194.5bn. Total assets also reached the 5 trillion mark, with the attainment of ₦5.07tn, a 41.5% increase from FY 2024’s ₦3.59tn, reflecting a growingly resilient balance sheet. Gross earnings increased by 52.8% to ₦660.6 billion from ₦432.3 billion in FY 2024, a feat driven largely by a 62.7% growth in interest income, reflecting improved yields on earning assets and growth in the loan book.

Customer deposits grew by 30.3% to ₦3.29 trillion from ₦2.52 trillion in FY 2024, demonstrating sustained customer confidence. This growth in deposits provided stable funding for asset growth while supporting liquidity and balance sheet resilience. Net interest income more than doubled, rising by 103.9% to ₦361.0 billion, supported by improved asset pricing and balance sheet expansion. Non-interest income also grew modestly by 8.3% to ₦85.3 billion. Net loans and advances increased by 44.7% to ₦1.74 trillion, up from ₦1.20 trillion in FY 2024, thus reflecting Wema Bank’s continued support for key sectors of the economy while maintaining a disciplined risk management approach. Overall, Wema Bank is set to pay dividend per share of N1.25.

Commenting on the remarkable performance, Wema Bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Moruf Oseni, reiterated the Bank’s unwavering commitment to sustaining its impressive growth momentum and delivering superior value to all stakeholders. According to him, “Wema Bank has delivered one of the strongest growth trajectories in its history. From a Profit Before Tax of ₦14.75 billion three years ago, we grew to ₦43.59 billion in 2023 and reached ₦102 billion in 2024. In 2025, we have taken an even bolder step forward, recording a Profit Before Tax of ₦221 billion. Our Total Assets, which hit the ₦1tn mark in 2021, surpassed ₦3tn in 2024, standing at a staggering ₦5tn as of FY2025. This overall performance not only speaks strongly of Wema Bank’s exceptional financial strength and capacity for sustained growth, but also reflects disciplined execution, a resilient business model, and the unwavering commitment of our people”.

“As of September 2025, Wema Bank successfully surpassed the ₦200bn recapitalisation minimum threshold for commercial banks with national authorisation. Our FY2025 Financial Results only corroborate what has become abundantly clear—Wema Bank is here not just to stay, but to lead the future of banking in Africa. Our 80th anniversary celebration in 2025 marked a fitting commemoration of our 80 years of impact in the finance industry and beyond. With the launch of ‘ALAT: The Evolution’, the upgraded version of our pioneering fully digital bank, ALAT, we not just redefining the digital banking experience with enhanced intelligence, personalisation and flexibility; we ushering Africa into a future filled with profound possibilities”, Oseni concluded.

Wema Bank is a leading financial services entity with banking operations across Nigeria and the globe, through its trailblazing innovative solution, Africa’s first fully digital bank, ALAT. From surpassing the recapitalisation benchmark set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to maintaining an unparalleled growth trajectory over the past 5 years, Wema Bank has proven itself stronger than ever—numbers perpetually skyrocketing.

The Bank’s position as leading innovative bank further proves that it is not only able to meet the prevalent needs of its customers but also equipped to anticipate and meet evolving needs as digital banking continues to reshape the finance industry.

Wema Bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Moruf Oseni

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
WEMA Bank Plc
Femi Akinfolarin (Head, Strategy & Investor Relations): +234 1 4622632 [email protected]
Bunmi Oladosu (Chief Finance Officer): +234 1 2778959 bunmi.oladosu@@wemabank.com

Their dramatic grand finale fast approaching, Artemis II’s astronauts aimed for a splashdown in the Pacific on Friday to close out humanity’s first voyage to the moon in more than half a century.

The tension in Mission Control mounted as the miles melted away between the four returning astronauts and Earth.

All eyes were on the capsule’s life-protecting heat shield that has to withstand thousands of degrees during reentry. On the only other test flight of the spacecraft — in 2022, with no one on board — the shield’s charred exterior came back looking as pockmarked as the moon.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen were on track to hit the atmosphere traveling Mach 32 — or 32 times the speed of sound — a blistering blur not seen since NASA’s Apollo moonshots of the 1960s and 1970s.

They didn’t plan on taking manual control except in an emergency. Their Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, is completely self-flying.

Like so many others, lead flight director Jeff Radigan anticipated feeling some of that “irrational fear that is human nature,” especially during the six minutes of communication blackout preceding the opening of the parachutes. The recovery ship USS John P. Murtha awaited the crew’s arrival, along with a squadron of military planes and helicopters.

The last time NASA and the Defense Department teamed up for a lunar crew’s reentry was Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis II was projected to come screaming back at 34,965 feet (10,657 meters) per second — or 23,840 mph (38,367 kph) — not a record but still mind-bogglingly fast before slowing to a 19 mph (30 kph) splashdown.

Artemis II’s record flyby and lunar views

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Launched from Florida on April 1, the astronauts racked up one win after another as they deftly navigated NASA’s long-awaited lunar comeback, the first major step in establishing a sustainable moon base.

Artemis II didn’t land on the moon or even orbit it. But it broke Apollo 13’s distance record, making Wiseman and his crew the farthest that humans have ever journeyed from Earth when they reached 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers). Then, in the mission’s most heart-tugging scene, the teary astronauts asked permission to name a pair of craters after their moonship and Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.

During the record-breaking flyby, they documented scenes of the lunar far side never seen before by the naked eye and savored a total solar eclipse courtesy of the cosmos thanks to their launch date. The eclipse, in particular, “just blew all of us away,” Glover said.

Their sense of wonder and love awed everyone, as did their breathtaking pictures of the moon and Earth. The Artemis II crew channeled Apollo 8’s first lunar explorers with Earthset, showing our blue marble setting behind the gray moon. It was reminiscent of Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise shot from 1968.

“It just makes you want to continue to go back,” Radigan said on the eve of splashdown. “It’s the first of many trips, and we just need to continue on because there’s so much” more to learn about the moon.

Their moonshot drew global attention as well as star power, earning props from President Donald Trump; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney; Britain’s King Charles III; Ryan Gosling, star of the latest space flick “Project Hail Mary;” Scarlett Johansson of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; and even Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner of TV’s original “Star Trek.”

Artemis II was a test flight for future moon missions

Despite its rich scientific yield, the nearly 10-day flight was not without technical issues. Both the capsule’s drinking water and propellant systems were hit with valve problems. In perhaps the most high-profile predicament, toilet trouble prevented the crew from using it for No. 1 most of the trip, forcing them to resort to old-time bags and funnels.

The astronauts shrugged it all off.

“We can’t explore deeper unless we are doing a few things that are inconvenient,” Koch said, “unless we’re making a few sacrifices, unless we’re taking a few risks, and those things are all worth it.”

Added Hansen: “You do a lot of testing on the ground, but your final test is when you get this hardware to space, and it’s a doozy.”

Under the revamped Artemis program, next year’s Artemis III will see astronauts practice docking their capsule with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Artemis IV will attempt to land a crew of two near the moon’s south pole in 2028.

The Artemis II crew’s allegiance was to those next Artemis crews, Wiseman said.

“But we really hoped in our soul is that we could for just for a moment have the world pause and remember that this is a beautiful planet and a very special place in our universe, and we should all cherish what we have been gifted,” he said.

Suspected bandits have again struck in Kwara State, killing five forest guards during a fresh attack on Nuku village in Kaiama Local Government Area in the early hours of Friday.

The assailants reportedly stormed the community at about 3:00 a.m., shooting sporadically and throwing residents into panic as they unleashed violence on the settlement.

A community source, who spoke to PUNCH Online on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said the attackers arrived in large numbers and operated for hours without resistance.

The source said, “They entered through their usual route in large numbers in the early hours of today, April 10, 2026, at Nuku.

“They started shooting directly and, within a short time, killed several innocent people, including the newly recruited forest guards.”

In addition to the loss of lives, several properties were destroyed during the assault.

“The motorcycles belonging to the forest guards were set ablaze, while patrol vehicles operated by the mobile police were also burnt,” the source added.

The Kwara State Police Command had yet to issue an official statement as of the time of filing this report.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the command, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, told our correspondent that she did not have details of the attack but promised to provide updates when more information becomes available.

“I have not been briefed about the incident, but I will get back to you as soon as I have information,” she said.

The latest killings have heightened fear among residents, many of whom continue to express concern over the deteriorating security situation in the area.

The attack comes barely two months after a deadly assault on Woro and neighbouring Nuku communities in the same local government area, where over 200 people were reportedly killed, and about 176 others abducted, including women and children.

Fresh anxiety has also been triggered by the emergence of a new video on Thursday showing abducted villagers from Woro and surrounding communities, with victims making desperate appeals for government intervention.

“We are begging you, this is our last opportunity. We have been here since February 3. Please, come to our rescue.

“We have small children with us and some women are pregnant,” another captive added in Yoruba. “Please, Kwara State Government, Oyo State Government, help us. This is the last chance they gave us,” ” a young woman in the footage dated April 8 said in English.

In the background of the video, one of the armed men claimed responsibility for the abduction while attempting to justify the act.

“We are the ones who kidnapped them. They have been begging us, and we have given them this opportunity so their government can hear from them,” he said.

Earlier footage released in February had shown rows of women and children surrounded by armed men, with some of the captives confirming they were taken from Woro and Kaiama in Kwara State.

“They said those abducted were about 25 or 30. Let them look here. Ask them how many they are,” one of the gunmen had said in Hausa.

“We are 174,” some of the women responded, although other segments suggested the number could be as high as 176.

Reacting to the development at the time, the Kwara State Government expressed concern over the videos and reassured residents of intensified rescue efforts.

“The Kwara State Government is deeply concerned over the disturbing video allegedly showing persons abducted during the February 3 attack,” the Commissioner for Communications, Mrs Bolanle Olukoju, said in a statement.

Olukoju said, “Our thoughts are with all the families affected, and we reaffirm our commitment to securing the safe return of all those impacted.”

She, however, cautioned against speculation on the exact number of abducted persons, noting that conflicting reports from affected communities had made verification difficult.

“For this reason, neither the state government nor security agencies have announced a definitive figure. Our priority remains the safe rescue of every affected citizen,” she added.

Despite these assurances, residents say the renewed attack on Nuku underscores the persistent vulnerability of rural communities in the area, as families of abducted victims continue to wait anxiously for their loved ones’ return.