CBN Confirms Appointment of Three Bank CEOs

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed as substantive managing directors the managing director-designates of three banks.
They are Mr. Godwin I. Emefiele, for Zenith Bank PLC, Mr. Phillips Oduzua, United Bank for Africa, UBA, and Mr. Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti for the Skye Bank.
The nominees who were appointed by their boards following CBN’s directive that all managing directors in the banking industry that have served ten years consecutively should quit at the end of July 2010, were screened by the apex bank.
Three of the banks in the country were affected by the CBN new rules. They are Zenith Bank which Managing Director Jim Ovia, was the pioneer MD that had taken the bank to great heights.
UBA is yet another of the banks affected. Its current Managing Director Tony Elumelu was the MD of Standard Trust Bank that bought into UBA and merged the two banks. Skye Bank had Akinsola Akinfenwa as current managing director.
Godwin Emefiele was appointed as deputy managing director, Zenith Bank in 2001. Prior to this appointment, he was the bank’s executive director in charge of Corporate Banking, Treasury, Financial Control and Strategic Planning. He is responsible for all the Group’s local subsidiaries, Treasury and Correspondent Banking, and Multilateral, Conglomerates, & Private Banking.
United Bank For Africa Plc (UBA) named Phillips Oduoza as its new CEO in line with the new Central Bank of Nigeria directive. Oduoza has over 22 years’ experience in Banking and Financial Services spanning Banking Operations, Relationship Management, Credit/Marketing, Technology Implementation, Risk Management, Lean Banking Methods and Brand Management.
Prior to this appointment, Oduoza was the bank’s deputy managing director overseeing its operations in the South, which is the UBA Group’s largest strategic business group. He will commence as the Group Chief Executive of the Bank on August 1, 2010. In the interim, Oduoza will work in tandem with Tony Elumelu, current Group Chief Executive of UBA to ensure that the transition is seamless.
Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti started his banking career with the Nigerian-American Merchant Bank Limited, an affiliate of Bank of Boston, in 1987 where he was employed as the Head of Accounts/Computer and later Internal Control. He moved to Midas Merchant Bank initially as Head of Treasury and later Assistant General Manager in charge of Money Market Division. Upon the conclusion of the merger in early 2006, Durosinmi-Etti was appointed the deputy managing director of Skye Bank Plc.