President Bola Tinubu on Friday nominated Olayemi Cardoso, as the new governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. The President, also nominated four deputy governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to serve alongside Cardoso. With the nomination, President Tinubu is clearing up the former team at the CBN led by the suspended Godwin Emefiele. The team include Mrs. Aishah N, Ahmad (Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability Directorate), Mr. Edward L. Adamu (Deputy Governor, Corporate Services Directorate), Dr. Kingsley Obiora (Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate) and Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, the deputy governor, operations directorate, who was appointed to replace Emefiele in acting capacity.
MEET THE NEW TEAM…
OLAYEMI CARDOSO
Olayemi Micheal Cardoso, 66is from Popo Aguda, Lagos Island. His father, Felix Bankole Cardoso, was the first indigenous Accountant-General of Nigeria in 1963, and the first indigenous vice-chairman and managing director of Barclays Bank of Nigeria.
Cardoso attended Corona School, Ikoyi, and St. Gregory’s College in Lagos for his primary and secondary education, respectively. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in managerial and administrative studies from Aston University in 1980, and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS) in 2005 as a Mason Fellow.
Cardoso is a professional banker with several years of experience with Chase Bank, Citibank, and Citizens International Bank, among others. He began his professional career at Howard Tilly & Co. as a chartered accountant in London before transitioning to the banking industry. In 1981, he secured a position at the renowned Citibank, the largest financial services organisation in the world at the time.
In 1982, Cardoso returned to Nigeria and joined Chase Merchant Bank, an affiliate of Chase Manhattan; and in 1984, he went back to Citibank when the organisation obtained a license to operate as a full-fledged commercial bank in Nigeria. Along with some of his Citibank colleagues, Cardoso founded Citizens Bank in 1990 where he served as the head of corporate banking and head of treasury and financial institutions.
He is an erstwhile chairman of the board of the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance; and most recently, chairman of Citibank Nigeria Ltd, and the founding chairman and co-chair of the Ehingbeti Summit, the Lagos state economic summit. He is also a member of the advisory board of Lagos Business School (LBS).
Cardoso was appointed as Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget by the then Governor Bola Tinubu. He is credited with the design and development of a strategy document for the state (based on poverty alleviation and growth), and wrote the 10-point economic agenda that helped catalyse the ongoing reforms and transformations in the state”.
Meanwhile, the deputy governor nominees are: Emem Nnana Usoro, Muhammad Sani Abdullahi Dattijo, Philip Ikeazor and Bala M. Bello. Here are a few things to know about them…
EMEM NNANA USORO
Usoro has 20 years of banking experience that cuts across retail and commercial, customer service, as well as corporate banking. She currently occupies the executive director position at United Bank for Africa (UBA), which she joined in 2010 as a regional bank head.
In 13 years, Usoro worked her way up to the leadership zenith in UBA. But prior to her lengthy career at the company, she spent six years at the defunct Bank PHB Plc, rising to the position of regional executive, Victoria Island Region (DGM) after leaving Platinum Bank as the relationship manager/team leader, commercial banking.
Usoro’s educational background is as colourful as her banking career, having bagged four management-related certificates from Harvard Business School, one at the University of Pretoria; a masters and a bachelors of science from the University of Uyo and Obafemi Awolowo University, respectively.
Usoro is expected to bring her wealth of experience to bear as a deputy governor of the CBN should her nomination be approved by the senate.
MUHAMMAD SANI ABDULLAHI DATTIJO
Dattijo is bringing a different kind of experience to the CBN having worked as a policy adviser at the executive office of Ban Ki-Moon, former United Nations secretary-general.
He was an economic adviser to the Nigeria Governors’ Forum prior to the appointment. He also worked as the budget and planning commissioner in the Kaduna state government under Nasir el-Rufai, former governor of the state, before his appointment as chief of staff.
Dattijo’s private sector career spanned the Balera Micro-Finance Bank, Athal Consulting, and Ecobank Nigeria, with his most recent job being the associate member, Dunning Africa Center, where he only spent three months before his appointment into CBN.
His career has been built on the back of an educational footprint that includes Ahmadu Bello University, where he secured his bachelor of science (BSc) and masters in economics, and international relations and affairs respectively. He also bagged public finance certificate in the London School of Economics and Political Science, amongst many others.
PHILIP IKEAZOR
Philip Ikeazor possesses 30 years of experience in the financial sector, having worked with various banks; serving as chief executive at Keystone Bank Limited in Nigeria and Ecobank Kenya.
Ikeazor also worked as executive director at Union Bank Nigeria and director of Union Bank UK Plc, before leaving the financial sector’s boardroom to join the governing board of the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in India.
He bolstered his career with certificates from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, while also becoming a fellow at the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.
BALA M. BELLO
Since starting his banking career in Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), Bello has gone on to occupy various positions in the private sector, where he has more than 20 years of experience.
Within the two decades, Bello has worked for the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Sigma Pensions Ltd, Marine Capital Limited and Apricot Investments Limited.
He graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, where he obtained a bachelor of science (BSc) degree in accounting and an MBA.
His educational background extended to foreign shores, including Harvard Business School, where he secured a leadership programme certificate. Others are the Wharton Business School, Richard Ivey School of Business, and Portfolio Management Academy.
