News
Meet Urum Eke who rejected Tinubu’s CBN appointment
A consultant with the World Bank, Urum Eke, on Thursday, rejected President Bola Tinubu’s appointment to serve as a member of the Central Bank of Nigeria Board of Directors.
Tinubu had, on February 13, forwarded the names of Eke and four others for confirmation as members of the board for the CBN.
However, during the confirmation, the former Governor of Abia State, Senator Orji Kalu, ( APC, Abia North ) told the Senate that Eke, who is his constituent, had called him on the phone to reject the offer, noting that it would conflict with his present job as a consultant with the World Bank.
This came to the fore during the Thursday plenary when the Senate began the process for the confirmation of the nominees.
The Senate, however, has confirmed the appointment of four other members of the Board of Directors of the CBN – Robert Agbede; Ado Yakubu Wanka; Professor Murtala Sabo Sagagi and Mrs. Muslimat Olanike Aliyu.
In this piece, PUNCH Online highlights 13 facts about Eke:
Born on November 20, 1964, Eke attended the Comprehensive Secondary School, Aba and Government College, Umuahia, the state capital, for his West African School Certificate and Higher School Certificate respectively.
He obtained a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Lagos in 1985.
Afterwards, Eke earned his Master in Business Administration in Projects Management Technology from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri in 2008.
The 59-year-old is an Alumnus of the prestigious Lagos Business School and the Wharton Business School, amongst others.
Eke is a recipient of Nigeria’s National Order of Merit and National Honour of Member of the Order of the Federal Republic.
He began his career in 1986 with Deloitte Haskins & Sells International as a senior auditor till 1991.
Eke further went on to serve as an Executive Director at Diamond Bank Plc for 19 years from 1992 – 2011.
Eke, a consummate financial services expert, is a former Group Managing Director at First Bank of Nigeria Holdings Plc.
He also served as a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of FBN Limited and FBN Merchant Bank Limited.
In 2017, he was appointed to the board of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (Sovereign Wealth Fund) and served until 2021.
Eke is the Executive Chairman, Fairchild Group which comprises Fairchild Capital Ltd, Fairchild Base Investment Ltd, Fairchild Ventures Ltd, among others.
He is also the Chairman, Board of Directors of NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre, a foremost cancer treatment centre in West Africa.
Eke has over 35 years of experience in financial services covering auditing, business assurance, consulting, amongst others.
News
At last, Tinubu sacks five ministers, makes seven fresh nomination
By Francesca Hangeior.
At last, president Bola Tinubu has reshuffle his cabinet appointing seven new ministers.
This development is coming few months after growing calls for the President to rejig his cabinet.
In a statement issued by the presidency after the federal executive council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, president Tinubu re-assigned 10 ministers to new ministerial portfolios and appointed seven new ministers for Senate confirmation.
The president on Wednesday, during the Federal Executive Council (FEC), announced the sack of Uju-Ken Ohanenye as Minister of Women Affairs; Lola Ade-John as Minister of Tourism; Tahir Mamman as Minister of Education; Abdullahi Gwarzo as Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development; and Jamila Ibrahim as Minister of Youth Development.
Tinubu subsequently nominated Bianca Odumegu-Ojukwu as the Minister of State Foreign Affairs, while Nentawe Yilwatda as the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, officially bringing an end to the tenure of suspended Betta Edu.
The President also nominated Maigari Dingyadi as the Minister of Labour and Employment, Jumoke Oduwole as the Minister of Industry, Idi Maiha as Minister for the newly created Livestock Development Ministry, Yusuf Ata as the Minister of State, Housing and Urban Development, with Suwaiba Ahmad as Minister of State Education.
Earlier on Wednesday, the President scrapped the Ministry of Nigeria Delta Development and announced the Ministry of Regional Development as a replacement to oversee the activities of all the regional development commissions.
The regional development commissions to be under the supervision of the new Ministry are the Niger Delta Development Commission, the South East Development Commission, the North East Development and the North West Development Commission.
Tinubu also scrapped the Ministry of Sports Development and transferred its functions to the National Sports Commission to “develop a vibrant sports economy”.
The President further approved the merger of the Federal Ministry of Tourism and the Federal Ministry of Arts and Culture to become the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy.
“The appointment of Shehu Dikko as Chairman of the National Sports
Commission.
“The appointment of Sunday Akin Dare as Special Adviser to the president on Public Communication and Orientation working from the ministry of Information and National Orientation,” the President said.
The President appreciated the outgoing members of the Federal Executive Council for their service to the nation while wishing them the best in their
future endeavours.
He then charged the newly appointed ministers as well as their reassigned colleagues to see their appointment as a call to serve the nation.
He added that all appointees must understand the administration’s eagerness and determination to set Nigeria on the path to irreversible growth and invest the best of their abilities into the actualisation of the government’s priorities.
It could be recalled that Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, appointed 48 ministers in August 2023, three months after his inauguration.
The Senate immediately screened and confirmed the ministers. One of the ministers, Betta Edu, was suspended in January while another, Simon Lalong, moved to the Senate.
There have been growing calls for the President to reshuffle his cabinet as many Nigerians are not impressed by the performance of some of the ministers, especially in the face of unprecedented inflation, excruciating economic situation and rising insecurity.
In September, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said the President would reshuffle his cabinet but didn’t give a time to the reorganisation.
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