Jobs/Appointments
Critics Question Aisha Ahmad’s Qualification for New CBN Job
By Dipo Olowookere
Since Thursday, October 5, 2017, when President Muhammadu Buhari announced Mrs Aishah Ahmad, as the new Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), there have been controversies trailing the young woman.
Mrs Ahmad was appointed to replace Mrs Serah Alade, who retired in March 2017 as the Deputy Governor of the CBN in charge of Economic Policy.
She is expected to assume duty as CBN deputy governor immediately after her confirmation by the Senate.
A report by Premium Times has said Mrs Ahmad was ‘controversially’ promoted to the position of an Executive Director of Diamond Bank Plc few hours to her announcement for the new CBN job.
But the lender, when contacted by the newspaper, gave a dodgy response to this issue.
Rather than make a categorical comment on when Mrs Ahmad was raised from her position as deputy general manager to executive director, Mr Mike Omeife, Head of Media Relations at the bank, merely said she had been executive director at the bank “for a while”.
He maintained that based on her wealth of experience, she is qualified to be appointed to the new position.
Until her appointment, Mrs Ahmad, a holder of Master of Science, M.Sc degree in Finance & Management from the Cranfield School of Management, United Kingdom (2006-2007) and a Master of Business Administration, MBA in Finance, University of Lagos (1999-2001), was the executive director (Retail Banking) at Diamond Bank Plc.
She is the chairperson, executive council of Women in Management, Business and Public Service, WIMBIZ, a Nigerian non-profit organization focused on issues affecting the interest of women professionals in business, particularly those promoting leadership development and capacity building to engender growth.
Since her appointment, there had been controversies, especially on social media, over her qualification for the CBN job.
SCANTY DETAILS
But in a chat with PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday, Mr Omeife said the new CBN deputy governor had been an executive director at Diamond Bank “for a while”.
When asked of the specific date, he explained that he might not immediately have the details but he was confident she had been appointed executive director “for a while”.
Our sources maintained Mr Omeife “was economical with the truth”.
Checks by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that details of the bank’s annual report showed that as at December 2016, Mrs Ahmad held the position of Head, Consumer and Privilege Banking. The two executive directors listed in the report are Chizoma Okoli, Executive Director Business Development, and Chiugo Ndubisi, Executive Director/Chief Financial Officer.
Similarly, in its quarterly reports for March and June 2017, the names of the two aforementioned officials remained as executive directors.
Meanwhile, checks on the disclosure platform of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, for possible announcement of Mrs Ahmad’s elevation also yielded no result as no such disclosure was made throughout 2017.
When contacted on the telephone on Monday, the media officer of the NSE, Joseph Kadiri, could not immediately give response to the request.
He, however, told PREMIUM TIMES to forward the request to him via email and promised to send to appropriate quarters for reply. More than 24 hours after the request was sent with reminders, PREMIUM TIMES has not gotten any response.
But Mr Omeife, Tuesday, suggested that disclosure of Mrs Ahmad’s appointment as ED may not necessarily be made to the Nigerian bourse.
“From the financial services perspective, the CBN handles issues involving people from ED (position) up (wards),” he said.
When asked about the alleged double promotion the new CBN official reportedly enjoyed on the day she was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Omeife said he knew nothing about such development.
“I don’t know about that; all I am meant to understand is that the president appointed her as CBN deputy governor and sent her name to the Senate for approval. I don’t know about that (issue of double promotion).
“But I know she is eminently qualified to be the CBN deputy governor and I am expecting young Nigerians to applaud her,” he said, in reference to Mrs Ahmad’s academic and professional antecedents.
He, however, said further enquiries should be directed to the CBN.
But PREMIUM TIMES’ efforts to reach the CBN were futile. Isaac Okorafor, the apex bank’s spokesperson, did not answer or return calls to his known number. He also did not reply to a text message sent to him.
PRIVILEGE BANKING VS ECONOMIC POLICY
Many commentators alleged that her promotion to the position of executive director at Diamond Bank Plc was ‘fast-tracked’, a few hours to the announcement of her name by the Nigerian government.
Insiders at the bank told PREMIUM TIMES she was promoted executive director hours to the announcement of her appointment to the CBN position. There was a company-wide announcement to that effect, our sources said.
However, the CBN Act does not require that an appointee to that position must be an executive director of a bank, and it is not clear why she had to be controversially upgraded.
Section 8 sub-section 1 of the CBN Act 2007 states, among others, that: “The Governor and Deputy Governors “shall be persons of recognised financial experience and shall be appointed by the President subject to the confirmation of the Senate.”
Some commentators argue that Mrs Ahmad’s expertise may not be the kind of skills needed at the CBN. She is better known for overseeing privilege banking, securing accounts from high net-worth individuals, and providing private client services to wealthy customers. Her understanding of economic policies remained unclear.
Abdul Mahmud, an Abuja-based attorney, said of the appointment, “That she replaces Sarah Alade as Deputy Governor of CBN in charge of economic policy- monetary policy, financial market, etc, before her retirement, makes her catapult curious.
“With a background in accounting and professional training in consumer banking, you would ask: what was her appointor thinking? She is not a monetarist, there is nothing in her CV that shows that she is nuanced in monetary economics.
“Well, with another misfit, Emefiele, at the helm of CBN, who has been accused of doing wash wash -printing more naira notes- an Emefiele-esque Quantitative Easing (QE) -to address liquidity problem and creating the more serious problem of inflationary pressure- a process of policy catalyzation really- you will understand why the oracle has consistently argued that the government projection of the Economic and Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) to reduce the inflation rate from 19% to 0% by 2020 is a pipe dream.
“Brace up for harder, perilous, and more difficult economic times.”
Source: Premium Times
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr Shu’aibu Shehu Aliyu as the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).
Mr Aliyu, a professor, is to replace Mr Ahmed Galadima Aminu, who recently resigned to participate in the 2027 governorship election in Adamawa State.
In a statement by a spokesperson to the President, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Thursday, it was disclosed that the appointment of Mr Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz as the chief executive of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has been renewed for a second and final term.
These appointments are said to take effect immediately.
Professor Aliyu, the new PTDF helmsman, is a distinguished academic and seasoned administrator with extensive experience in research, education, and institutional leadership. His appointment underscores the President’s commitment to strengthening key institutions in the petroleum sector and advancing capacity development for Nigeria’s energy industry.
“The President expects him to leverage his wealth of experience to reposition the PTDF for greater impact in human capital development, innovation, and strategic support for the oil and gas sector in line with national priorities.
“President Tinubu renewed Engineer Abdulaziz’s appointment following a comprehensive assessment of his performance and leadership of the nation’s transmission network.
“Under his stewardship, TCN has recorded notable improvements in grid stability, transmission capacity expansion, and system modernisation, reinforcing its critical role in Nigeria’s electricity value chain.
“Engr. Abdulaziz brings over three decades of experience in the power sector and has also strengthened regional electricity integration through his leadership in the West African Power Pool (WAPP).
“President Tinubu urges both appointees to discharge their responsibilities with diligence, integrity, and a strong sense of national service,” the statement said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited saw its workforce rise by 12.2 per cent to 6,247 at the end of 2025 from 5,566 in the corresponding period of 2024, according to its latest employee data.
The state oil firm stated that its employees increased by 14.3 per cent from 5,495 recorded at the end of the first quarter of 2025 to 6,280 at the end of the second quarter of 2025.
Its staff strength, however, dropped by 0.11 per cent to 6,273 workers in the third quarter of 2025 and further shrank by 0.41 per cent to 6,247 in the last quarter of the year under review.
Giving a breakdown of its workforce in terms of gender, the NNPC disclosed that at the end of the fourth quarter, 5,044 employees, representing 80.7 per cent of its workforce, were males, while 1,203 employees, representing 19.3 per cent of its total workforce, were females.
Further breakdown revealed that Junior Staff 2 (JS 2) and Junior Staff 1 (JS1) cadres had one staff member and 175 staff members, respectively, at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, as against one staff and 187 staff members, respectively, recorded in the third quarter of 2025.
In addition, the Senior Staff Seven (SS7) cadre had 31 employees, remaining the same as in the previous quarter, while the SS6 cadre dropped to 1,010 staff, from 1,012 staff recorded at the end of the third quarter of 2025.
The SS5, SS4, SS3, SS2 and SS1 staff cadre recorded 1,076 staff, 164 staff, 389 staff, 471 staff and 1,829 staff, respectively, in the quarter under review, compared with 1,076 staff, 164 staff, 391 staff, 478 staff and 1,835 staff, respectively, recorded in the third quarter of 2025.
Management Six (M6) cadre had 695 staff in the second quarter of 2025, compared with 699 staff in the same category in the previous quarter, while M5, M4, M3, M2 and M1 cadres had 237 staff, 117 staff, 47 staff, seven staff and one staff respectively, compared with 243 staff, 116 staff, 44 staff, seven staff and one staff in the corresponding cadres in the third quarter of 2025.
Further analysis of the NNPC workforce across different cadres showed that JS2 and JS1 accounted for 0.02 per cent and 2.75 per cent of its total workforce, respectively, while SS7, SS6, SS5, SS4, SS3, SS2 and SS1 cadres accounted for 0.50 per cent, 16.17 per cent, 17.22 per cent, 2.63 per cent, 6.23 per cent, 7.54 per cent and 29.28 per cent of the state oil company’s total workforce, respectively.
In addition, NNPC’s M6, M5, M4, M3, M2 and M1 cadres accounted for 11.13 per cent, 3.79 per cent, 1.87 per cent, 0.75 per cent, 0.11 per cent and 0.02 per cent, respectively.
In general, the NNPC Limited noted that it had 173 employees in its junior staff category; 4,970 employees in its senior staff category, and 1,104 employees in its management category.
It also reported that in its middle management cadre, it has 932 employees, accounting for 14.92 per cent of its total workforce, while the top management cadre had 172 employees, accounting for 2.75 per cent of its total workforce.
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has appointed Mr Ibrahim Ida as Chairman of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Mr Ida holds an MSc in Banking and Finance from the University of Ibadan (1983) and an LLB from the University of Abuja (2003). Before being elected to the Senate in 2017 to represent Katsina Central, he served as the Commissioner of Finance for Katsina State and as the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Civil Service.
His appointment comes as the CAC faces legislative scrutiny over its books. The commission is part of a group of agencies that the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recommended zero allocation for the year 2026, for allegedly failing to account for public funds appropriated to them.
The committee, at an investigative hearing held in February, accused CAC and some other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of shunning invitations to respond to audit queries contained in the Auditor-General for the Federation’s annual reports for 2020, 2021 and 2022.
It asked the National Assembly not to continue to appropriate public funds to institutions that disregard accountability mechanisms.
President Tinubu also nominated seven people to fill vacant commissioner positions at the National Population Commission (NPC) as Federal Commissioners to represent their respective states in the National Population Commission. The nominees are;
1. Kolawole Oladipupo Alabi – Ekiti State
2. Nasiru Mu’azu – Zamfara State
3. Usman Abubakar Tuggar – Bauchi State
4. Dr Isaka Alada Yahaya – Kwara State
5. Prof. Sadiq Isah Radda – Katsina State
6. Suleiman Umar – Jigawa State
7. Hon. Chiso Abdullahi Dattijo – Sokoto State
The appointments, which complement other Federal Commissioners already sworn in, are subject to confirmation by the National Assembly.
The President also appointed Mr Yusuf Mohammed of Kano State as Chairman of the Federal Polytechnic, Kaltungo, and confirmed the appointment of Mr Bala Mohammed Bello as his Special Adviser on Political Economy.
Mr Bello, from Kebbi State, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting and an MBA from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Before this appointment, he was a Deputy Governor at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). He also served as Executive Director (Corporate Services) at the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) from 2017 to 2022.
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