Where is Folake Itohan Salami?
One ‘star’ of the immediate past government who appeared like one that would shine for a long time was Folake Itohan Salami. Folake was not just another appointee when she held sway as the Executive Director, Business Development for the Nigerian Export and Import Bank (NEXIM). She was powerful and ubiquitously influential during the era of former President Goodluck Jonathan. In actual fact, her influence as a key figure in the government earned her the sobriquet, “Patience Daughter” because she was highly favoured by the former first lady with whom she globe-trotted most of the time. Times have changed, as she has since retired to her anonymous cocoon. It is scooped in some quarters that she has relocated from Nigeria while others said she has been hibernating after going through a litany of litigation resulting from her alleged questionable stewardship when she was at NEXIM.
Folake’s qualifications for her appointment at NEXIM came under scrutiny in 2015. She became a subject of interest when a civil rights group, the Centre for Social Justice, petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the appointment and activities of the former banker, which they claimed was undeserving. “As the situation stands, we have carried out private investigations on the credentials of the said Mrs. Folake Itohan Oke Salami and discovered that she committed fraud and told huge lies on oath in order to occupy the aforesaid position,” the letter written by CSJ read in part. The group, which is a coalition of civil rights groups, addressed a press conference claiming Salami had falsified her experience status in the banking sector to influence her appointment into that position. The agitations put the divorcee and mother of two under blasts from some angles, and she has since disappeared from the radar.