Tinubu appoints Yemi Cardoso new CBN governor
Replaces four deputies
President Bola Tinubu has appointed Dr Olayemi Michael Cardoso as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), three months after the suspension of Godwin Emefiele.
The five-year appointment is subject to the endorsement of the Nigerian Senate, in compliance with section 8 (1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007.
The act, which serves as the guiding framework for the country’s central banking system, grants the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria the legal mandate to nominate the governor as well as four deputy governors of the CBN. These appointments, once confirmed, are for an initial term of five years.
President Tinubu also appointed four individuals to serve as deputy governors of the apex bank. They are Mrs Emem Nnana Usoro, Mr Muhammad Sani Abdullahi Dattijo, Mr Philip Ikeazor and Dr Bala M. Bello.
Dr Yemi Cardoso is a financial and development expert with over 30 years of experience in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. He is the chairman of the Board of Directors of Citibank, Nigeria.
He also served as the first commissioner/cabinet member for economic planning and budget in Lagos State. He served on the board of several leading companies, including Texaco and Chevron Oil Plc.
Cardoso most recently served as a member of the Policy Advisory Council, which includes Senator Tokunbo Abiru (chair), Sumaila Zubairu and Dr Doris Anite.
He faces an uphill battle to stabilise Nigeria’s exchange rate volatility, bring down inflation and restore confidence to an apex bank that has seen its image battered in recent years. He is also a chartered stockbroker.
He holds a first degree from the University of Aston, United Kingdom and a second degree from Harvard University, USA. In 2017, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in Business Administration by his alma mater, Aston University, in recognition of “his outstanding contributions to business and the society.”
Career
His private sector experience includes a career in Citibank, Chase and Citizens International Bank. In 1999, upon return to civilian democratic rule, Yemi was appointed the first commissioner/cabinet member for economic planning and budget for Lagos State by the then Tinubu administration. In this capacity, he wrote and monitored the implementation of the blueprint, which catalysed economic development in the world’s sixth largest megacity.
He is a member of the Belgianbased Cities Alliance think tank, which aims to shape and influence policy and decision making on urban development in Africa and has strong relationships with key international donor agencies.
Deputy governors Muhammad Sani Abdullahi
Popularly known as Dattijo, Abdullahi is an international development expert and Nigerian public servant. He served as a policy adviser at the Executive Office of United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki Moon in New York.
Dattijo formed the core team that developed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He resigned from this appointment to serve the Nigerian government as commissioner for budget and planning in Kaduna State.
Abdullahi obtained a master’s degree in Development Economics and Policy from the University of Manchester and second master’s from the Ahmadu Bello University, where he studied International Affairs and Diplomacy. He obtained certificates, including in public finance at the London School of Economics, Sustainable Development at the Columbia University and Advanced Project Management at the Oxford University. He was part of the 2017 cohort of Georgetown University’s Leadership Seminar.
He published a book titled
“Disruption Rethinking Governance to Work for the Poor”
on July 2, 2023.
Earlier, he worked as an economist and deputy national programme manager for the Millennium Development Goals at the Nigerian Presidency. He served as an economic adviser of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum after the MDGs. In 2018, he was one of two Nigerians - himself and Sahara Group co-founder, Tonye Cole - appointed to the World Bank Expert Advisory Council on Citizen Engagement.
Mrs Emem Nnana Usoro
Emem Usoro, UBA’s executive director, Nigerian North Bank, boasts over 20 years of banking experience spanning customer service, retail, commercial, corporate banking and public sector, covering all the regions in the country.
Before now, the astute banker, who joined the United Bank for Africa in 2011, has worn several hats. She was the directorate head, Abuja and North of the Central Bank. She was also the regional director, Lagos Island region in charge of 32 branches in the Apapa and Lagos Island region, where she was responsible for developing, planning and implementing strategies to grow and turn around ailing branches, amongst other activities. She has a strong track record of winning and executing high-powered transactions.
A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) with strong capabilities in business development, financial and business advisory, strategic planning and execution, Emem holds a B.Sc in Biochemistry and an MBA from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. She is also an alumnus of the Lagos
Business School and Harvard Business School. She has attended several international courses on leadership, corporate credit, marketing and negotiation skills.
Philip Ikeazor
Ikeazor has over a 30 yearexperience in the financial services industry. He has held various board positions, notably as the chief executive officer of Keystone Bank Limited, Ecobank Kenya Limited, executive director, Union Bank, Nigeria, director of Union Bank, UK Plc, and director of Orient Bank, Uganda.
He also served as a member of the governing board of ICRISAT -International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, India (a member of the World Bank-led Consultative Group on International Agric Research).
Ikeazor has a B.Sc Economics from the University of Buckingham, UK. He is an alumnus of Wharton-CEIBSIESE Business School, Global CEO Programme and attended executive programmes at Harvard Business School and Wharton School of Business.
He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.
Bala M. Bello
Dr Bala Mohammed Bello is currently the executive director of Corporate Services at the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM). He was appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Bello has more than two decades of experience in the financial services industry, spanning through banking, capital market and pension fund management. He had worked in senior executive level in the last seven years prior to his appointment as the executive director of the the Nigerian Export Export-Import Bank in 2017.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and an MBA, both from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Bello began his banking career at the Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and later joined the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2005, he joined Sigma Pensions Ltd and was appointed the first Nigerian executive director/ chief operating officer in 2011, and later, executive director, operations from 2013 to 2014. In this capacity, he had direct administrative responsibility for over N260billion funds/assets under management (A-U-M).
He established and served as the founding chief executive officer of Marine Capital Limited, a real estate development and business/pensions advisory firm in February 2015 and subsequently joined Apricot Investments Limited in March 2016 as the pioneer managing director/chief executive officer.
Bello has completed the High Potential Leadership Programme at Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts and an Executive Development Programme at Wharton Business School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, both in the United States of America. He also holds a certificate in Operations Leadership from the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Canada, as well as Portfolio Management Academy certificate at the New York Institute of Finance. He also successfully completed modules 1 and 2 of the highly sought-after GMP programme at the Harvard Business School in March 2020.
He is an honorary senior member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, a fellow of the Institute of Credit Administration, member of the Institute of Directors, member of the Certified Pension Institute of Nigeria, and member of the Nigerian Institute of Management.
He was conferred with the Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) in Leadership and Management by ESAE University, Republic of Benin, and Doctor of Business Administration (Honoris Causa) by Commonwealth University, in conjunction with London Graduate School.