Former NDDC Boss, Efiong Akwa appointed into Polaris Bank board
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has appointed the former Interim Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dr. Efiong Akwa as non-executive director in the board of Nigeria’s leading digital commercial retail bank, Polaris bank. The ten man board has Dr. Kassim Gidado as chairman.
Other non-executive di¬rectors include: Mallam Ambursa Abubakar Umar, Mrs. Ayaba M. Ayo-Joseph, Mrs. Giwa-Amu Subulade Ibironke and Dr. Onosode Christopher.
Mr. Kayode Lawal, MD/ CEO of the bank, said the diverse expertise and ex¬perience of the new board members would further en¬rich on-going strategic ini¬tiatives aimed at strength-ening their position as a leading digital bank
“We are thrilled to wel¬come these seasoned pro¬fessionals to the board of Polaris Bank. Their diverse expertise and leadership qualities will be invaluable as we drive our strategic ini¬tiatives aimed at strength¬ening the bank as a leading Nigeria digital bank.
“These appointments mark a significant step in Polaris Bank’s journey to¬wards achieving sustained growth and delivering ex-ceptional value to our stake¬holders.”
A statement noted that Dr. Kassim Gidado, the new board chairman, is an aca¬demic with over 35 years of experience in the fields of Engineering, Project Man¬agement and Strategic De¬velopment.
The statement also indicates that Dr. Efiong Akwa holds a doctorate in Law, has experience as a Special Assistant on Fi-nance and later MD at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Port Harcourt and as a Non-Executive Director of FHA Mortgage Bank Limit¬ed in Abuja, where he repre¬sented the Federal Govern¬ment’s interest.
A Chartered Accountant, Dr. Akwa is an accomplished professional with a rich educational background, including attending the Se¬nior Executive Programme on Strategy, Leadership and Transformation at the Lon¬don Business School.
Mallam Ambursa Abu¬bakar Umar is an expert in Enterprise Transformation and Development Finance with over 30 years of expe¬rience in the banking in¬dustry, including a distin¬guished tenure at the CBN.
Mrs. Ayaba Ayo-Joseph has over three decades of experience in the banking industry. A member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), she brings to the board as a Non-Executive Director a wealth of experience in Corporate Management, Business Development, and Strategy Execution.
Mrs. Giwa-Amu Subu¬lade Ibironke, a lawyer by training, holds an MBA degree from the University of Warwick, UK and brings over 27 years of experience in financial services, real es¬tate investment & develop¬ment and business process re-engineering across the West African region to the Polaris Bank board.
Dr. Onosode Christopher holds a doctorate in Eco¬nomics and energy major from Kent University, UK. He joins the board with over 30 years of experience in business systems analy¬sis and design, strategy and operations, project manage¬ment and policy analysis.
The newly appointed non-executive directors will provide support for the ex¬ecutive management team led by Mr. Kayode Lawal and supported by the executive management team led by Mr. Kayode Lawal, Man¬aging Director/CEO; Mr. Chris Ofikulu, Executive Director, Retail and Com¬mercial; Mrs. Abimbola Ozomah, Executive Direc¬tor, Corporate & Investment Banking and Sharafadeen Muhammed, Executive Di¬rector, Operations.
