[LOGO]
First Niagara
Financial Group, Inc.

                First Niagara Names John R. Koelmel President and
                     Chief Operating Officer and Acting CEO

   Paul J. Kolkmeyer Leaves Position as President and Chief Executive Officer
                   and Resigns as a Director of First Niagara

LOCKPORT, N.Y., December 8, 2006 -- First Niagara Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:
FNFG), the holding company for First Niagara Bank, announced today that its
Board of Directors elected John R. Koelmel as President and Chief Operating
Officer and Acting Chief Executive Officer. Paul J. Kolkmeyer, who served as
First Niagara's President and Chief Executive Officer since December 2003, has
left this position and has resigned from the Board of Directors of the Bank and
the Company.

Mr. Koelmel joined First Niagara as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer in January 2004. Prior to joining First Niagara, he served as Chief
Administrative Officer of Financial Institutions, Inc. following a 26 year
career at KPMG LLP, where he served many banking and financial services clients.
Mr. Koelmel also served as Managing Partner of the KPMG Buffalo office with
additional administrative responsibility for KPMG's other Upstate New York
offices in Rochester, Syracuse and Albany. A CPA, Mr. Koelmel earned a
bachelor's degree in economics and accounting from College of the Holy Cross.

"First Niagara's Board of Directors has a very strong commitment to continue
building the Company, strengthening financial performance and increasing
shareholder value," said Robert G. Weber, Chairman of the Board. "Based on
differences in management style and the approach to accomplishing these
objectives, we concluded that the time was right for a change in leadership at
the CEO level.

"The Board of Directors and I greatly appreciate Paul's tireless efforts to
build First Niagara's business throughout his tenure as CEO. During this period,
First Niagara doubled in size, becoming one of the leading community banks in
Upstate New York with more than $8 billion in assets, over $5.5 billion in
deposits and 120 branch locations."

Weber added, "In his three years as First Niagara's Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer, John has demonstrated a high level of effectiveness in
leading our financial operations in a challenging business environment, as well
as his ability to work cohesively with the First Niagara executive team to
accomplish business, strategic and financial objectives. We believe John is the
best person to lead First Niagara going forward based on his capabilities and
the support he has from the very strong management team already in place in all
of our business units and corporate functions. Accordingly, the Board of
Directors is not engaging in a search at this time. We look forward to the
future growth and successes we expect they will accomplish for the benefit of
First Niagara's shareholders."


FNFG
Page 2


Profile -- First Niagara Financial Group, Inc., through its wholly owned
subsidiary First Niagara Bank, has assets of $8.0 billion and deposits of $5.6
billion. First Niagara Bank is a full-service, community-oriented bank that
provides financial services to individuals, families and businesses through 120
branches and several financial services subsidiaries across New York State.

Officer Contact
- ---------------
Leslie G. Garrity.....     Public Relations and Corporate Communications Manager
                           (716) 625-7528
                           leslie.garrity@fnfg.com