Director Declaration

Omobola Johnson and Ian Greenstreet Join Diamond Bank Board

LAGOS, NIGERIA - 23 AUGUST 2010 - Diamond Bank Plc, (Bloomberg: DIAMONDB NL/ Reuters: DIAMONB.LG) ("Diamond Bank" or the "Group"), the provider of comprehensive banking and other financial services to corporate and individual customers across Nigeria and Africa announces the appointment on to its board of Mrs. Omobola Olubusola Johnson and Mr. Ian Greenstreet as new Independent Directors.

Independent Directors are board members whose appointments are based on the value that they bring to corporate governance as a result of their deep and wide ranging professional experience and not necessarily on the size of their shareholding.

According to a statement issued by the Bank, the new appointments are in line with Diamond Bank's tradition of appointing seasoned and tested professionals with proven track record into its Board. It is strongly believed that the new appointments which have already been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will further strengthen the Bank's leadership positions in corporate governance and risk management in the industry.

Mrs. Omobola Olubusola Johnson was until recently the Country Managing Director of Accenture in Nigeria and the first woman to hold that position. Omobola holds a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Manchester and a Masters degree in Digital Electronics from King's College, London. She joined Accenture, then Andersen Consulting in 1985. At Andersen, she garnered experience in the areas of enterprise transformation- having worked with Board and Management of several major banks and CBN of Nigeria to successfully transform these organisations in a more competitive and dynamic environment. Some of the initiatives in these transformation projects range from strategy development to process re-engineering, HR transformation, technology developments and change and programme management.

In the multiple of years she spent at Accenture, she progressed through various roles and was a Director and the Head of the Financial Services operating group in Nigeria before her appointment as the Managing Director December 2005 where she was responsible for implementation of Accenture's strategies in Nigeria and the rest of West Africa. Omobola likes travelling and plays golf. She is a member of many prestigious clubs in Nigeria and Non-Governmental Organisations- she is the founding Chairperson and member of Board of Trustees of Women in Management and Business, among others.

Similarly, Mr. Ian Greenstreet is considered by many as one of the world's leading Risk Management professionals. Greenstreet, a Chartered Accountant(Institute of Chartered Accountantsof Englandand Wales) holds a B.Sc(Hons) in Computer Science & Accounting fromthe Universityof Manchester. His career spans over 25 yearsin the financial sector, specialisingin riskmanagement and credit analysis. In 2006, he joined the MedicapitalBank as the head of risk wherehe set up enterprise risk management for the Bank covering market risk, credit riskand operationalrisk including systems, proceduresand policy manuals which gainedFSA approval.

In 1996 Greenstreet wasappointed Regional Country Risk Officer (Managing Director) ABN AMBRO Bank- London. For ten years he was responsible for the bank's credit approval, credit monitoring and credit risk quantification of exposures working closely with client coverage and trading floors providing structuring advice on transactions to ensure that risks are mitigated and comply with the bank 's risk apetite. This enabled him to gain indepth understanding of all wholesale bank's products and project finance. Earlier in his career, he had worked as the Head of Credit Yamaichi International (Europe) Ltd, Lloyds Bank, Luxembourg (Privat Bank), Stoy Hayward, Luxembourg, Henderson Fund Management, Luxembourg, Midland Bank and Touche Ross & Co London.

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For further information please contact:

Charles Udoh [email protected] +234 (1) 7741215

Africa Practice / Financial Dynamics

London:

Ed Gascoigne-Pees [email protected] +44 (0)20 7269 7132

Kat Bloom [email protected] +44 (0)20 7269 7223

Lagos:

Nick Chambers [email protected] +234 702 846 8082

Tim Newbold [email protected] +234 805 494 9866

About Diamond Bank plc

Diamond Bank Plc began as a private limited liability company on March 21, 1991 (the company was incorporated on December 20, 1990). Ten years later, in February 2001, it became a universal bank. In January 2005, following a highly successful Private Placement share offer which substantially raised the Bank's equity base, Diamond Bank became a public limited company. In May 2005, the Bank was listed on The Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Today, Diamond Bank is one of the leading banks in Nigeria* - respected for its excellent service delivery, driven by innovation and operating on the most advanced banking technology platform in the market. Diamond Bank has over the years leveraged on its underlying resilience to grow its asset base and to successfully retain its key business relationships.

We have retained excellent banking relationships with a number of well-known international banks, allowing us to provide a bouquet of world class banking services to suit the business needs of our clients. These international banking partners include Citibank; HSBC Bank; ANZ Banking Group; ING BHF Bank AG; Standard Chartered Bank; Belgolaise Bank S.A; Deutsche Bank; Commerzbank; and Nordea Bank Plc.

* Diamond Bank's A- rating by Fitch Ratings and A+ rating by GCR, reflects the bank's sustainable liquidity, sound and professional practices and good standing as a high investment grade institution.

More information can be found at www.diamondbank.com