Uche Usim, and Okwe Obi, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate dissolution of the Interim Management Team of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) and appointed Alwan Hassan as acting Managing Director of the bank.
In the same vein, the president also reconstituted the Board of Directors of the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company Plc (NBET) in his efforts to make it more productive and ultimately improve electricity supply in the country.
Approval for the dissolution of the BOA interim management team was conveyed to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, via a letter dated May 5, 2020 with reference No. PRES/95/MARD/14 and made available to newsmen yesterday.
Hassan hails from Kano State and holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. He has served on the Management Boards of Orient Bank, Uganda; Bank PHB in the Gambia and Platinum Capital and Trust Limited, Nigeria.
Until his appointment, he was the Chairman/CEO of Midrange Universal Biz Ltd and member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers(CIBN), the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) among others. He also has a thorough grooming of management prowess having attended trainings at the famous IMD Business School Luasanne, Switzerland and Intrados Business School, Washington DC, USA
The BOA, being the nation’s apex agricultural and rural development finance institution, is saddled with the responsibility of providing agricultural credit facilities in support of agricultural value chain activities.
Meanwhile, the NBET, while domiciled with the Ministry of Power, was bogged down by internal squabbles bordering on fraud and insubordination within its management and the supervising Ministry.
The development forced the Presidency to relocate NBET to the Finance Ministry.
This explains why the newly reconstituted NBET Board, is chaired by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Mrs Zainab Ahmed, while a staff from Ministry of Power, not below the level of a director was named a non-Executive Director.
Others members are Mr. Alexander Okoh, as non–Executive Director from the Bureau of Public Enterprises, which holds 80 per cent shares in NBET, Ms. Patience Oniha, Director-General, Debt Management Office (DMO), also non-Executive Director on the board, while Mr Ben Akabueze, Director General, Budget Office of the Federation, another non-Executive Director.
Also appointed by the President are Suleyman Ndanusa, former Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as Non-Executive Director (Independent); Mr Mustapha Balarabe Shehu, former President Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE), as non-Executive Director (Independent); Mr. Adeyeye Adepegba as Non-Executive Director (Independent); and Dr. Marilyn Amobi, as Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer.