Following the ouster of Polaris Bank’s directors, among others, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) named Lawal Mudathir Omokayode Akintola and Chris Ofikulu as Polaris Bank’s new chief executive officer and executive director, respectively.
Sidi-Ali Hakama, the acting director of corporate communication at the CBN, made this announcement on Wednesday through a circular dated January 10, 2024, after dismissing Adekunle Sonola, Abdullahi S. Mohammed, and Segun Opeke.
Lawal Mudathir Omokayode Akintola – CEO
The CBN appointed Lawal Mudathir Omokayode Akintola as the head of Polaris Bank as chief executive officer.
Before this appointment, Akintola was the managing director/ chief executive officer of Fractional Investment Services Limited, a real estate company in Nigeria.
He also held the position of executive director of corporate and investment banking at Sterling Bank Plc before setting up Intermediate Equity Partners Limited.
He has over 30 years of experience in the banking industry, with insight into key sectors like oil and gas, telecommunications, manufacturing, and other infrastructural projects.
Akintola is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN). He is an alumnus of the Lagos Business School, the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and the University of Oxford.
Chris Ofikulu – Executive Director
Before his new appointment, Chris Ofikulu was the country CEO of UBA Ghana.
He was also the UBA Group’s Directorate Head, Apapa 1 (Corporate), responsible for articulating & deploying business development strategies and critical resources towards delivering optimal values for the bank.
He is a senior executive of the bank with over 30 years of banking experience, of which over 28 years have been in business development.
Before joining the UBA Group, Ofikulu had worked at one of the top commercial banks in Nigeria. He served in various capacities, including the directorate head in charge of the South Businesses and the directorate head in charge of the Lagos and West Businesses. Ofikulu was also the pioneering managing director of Diamond Pension Fund Custodian Limited.
Ofikulu holds a B.Sc. (First Class) Degree in Industrial Mathematics from the University of Benin, Benin City, and an MBA from the University of Lagos. He also attended the following prestigious business schools: the Wharton Business School in Philadelphia, where he did an advanced management programme; the IESE Business School at the University of Navarra in Barcelona; and the Lagos Business School at Pan-African University.
He equally attended Leadership and Corporate Governance Training at the Henley Business School, University of Reading, U.K., and the Advanced Company Direction Programme, Institute of Directors, London.
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