•President Muhammadu Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday approved the appointment of two Nigerians into two separate international financial institutions.

The President, according to a statement by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu approved the appointment of  Dr. Oyebode Oyetunde as Executive Director for Nigeria at the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire.

In another statement, Shehu also announced that the President  approved the appointment of Dr. Mahmoud Isa-Dutse as Executive Director on the Board of Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in Jedda, Saudi Arabia.

Dr Oyetunde was Senior Special Assistant to the President on Finance and Fiscal Policy as well as Legal Matters in the Office of the Chief of Staff to President before he was appointed into the AfDB.

He was also Special Adviser (Fiscal Policy) to the  Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

He is a Chartered Accountant and a fiscal policy tax expert with 24 years of experience in investment banking.

Dr. Oyetunde, a Fiscal/Development expert, is a Ph.D graduate of Queen Mary and Westfield college, University of London and has a Law and Accounting Masters degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is equally a legal practitioner qualified in Nigeria, England and Wales. He is  a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN).

The Fiscal/Development expert worked in the Federal Ministry of Finance from 2008 to 2011, providing technical support in macroeconomic/fiscal policy, taxation and other aspects of public financial management. He has got high level experience with development finance institutions.

Dr Oyetunde is taking over from Dr. Bright Okogu whose tenure will come to an end at the bank on 15th May, 2021 having served as a two-time Executive Director.

The position of the Executive Director in AfDB is strategic as it affords Nigeria the opportunity to be in the forefront when key policy decisions are taken regarding the African region.

Reacting to the appointment, the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, thanked the President for considering Dr. Oyetunde for the exalted position.

“Dr. Oyetunde is one of the functionaries  who worked assiduously for the finalization  of the Federal Budgets and the Finance Bills among others. He has the competence, experience and pedigree to fit into the office,” she said.

On the other hand, Dr. Dutse is the immediate past Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

He has enormously interacted with development partners and international financial institutions during his tenure as Permanent Secretary. He is quite familiar with the modus operandi of multilateral institutions such as IsDB and he is well respected in those institutions.

During his tenure as Permanent Secretary, he represented Nigeria on Boards of Governors/Directors of African Export-Import Bank, Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development, World Bank, African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, ECOWAS Bank for Investment, Central bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), among others.

The position of Executive Director on the Board of IsDB is non-residential (part time). Executive Directors travel to attend Board meetings quarterly or as determined by management to consider critical policy issues.

Before his appointment as Permanent Secretary, Dutse was the Acting Chairman and subsequently a Non-Executive Director of the Emerging African Infrastructure Fund (EAIF). He is a renowned banker with 23 years vast experience in the financial sector, having graduated in Economics with MBA and Ph.D in Business Administration.

Dr. Dutse is taking over from Alhaji Shuaibu Gambo who was appointed on 1st July, 2011 and has held the position for about 10 years.

The new Executive Director is expected to bring to the Board new ideas, innovations and contribution and provide Nigeria with opportunity for a voice to demand and access additional resources from the Bank.

Nigeria purchased 7.65 percent of the capital stock of the IsDB in 2010. The acquisition entitled the country to a single-country constituency as against the previous 11 country-constituency to which Nigeria previously belonged. It also entitles the country to a Permanent Seat on the Bank’s Executive Board of Directors.

In her reaction to the appointment, Mrs. Ahmed, thanked the President and Commander-in-Chief for the appointment.  She noted the expertise of Isa-Dutse whom she said has deep intellect and knowledge of development institutions.

In her words: “Dr. Isa-Dutse has the needed experience and knowledge that is required to inject new ideas, innovation and contribution on behalf of Nigeria on the Board of the bank. He has very impressive credentials for the position.”