Buhari appoints Umar-Sadiq as new NSIA Director General

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Aminu Umar-Sadiq as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

Mr. Buhari has also appointed Kolawole Owodunni and Bisi Makoju as executive directors of the Authority, according to a statement by Special Advisor for Media and Communications to Finance Minister Yunusa Abdullahi on Monday.

The appointment of the new CEO follows the end of Uche Orji's two successive five-year terms since his appointment on October 2, 2012, which expired on September 30.

The NSIA (Establishment) Act 2011 grants the President the power to appoint persons to the Board of Directors on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, who will consult with the NEC

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) is an investment institution of the federation established to manage funds in excess of budgeted hydrocarbon revenues.

Its mission is to play a leading role in driving sustainable economic development for the benefit of all Nigerians by creating a savings base for the Nigerian people, improving Nigeria's infrastructure development and providing stabilization support in times of economic crisis.< /p> Profile

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Umar-Sadiq was a former Executive Director and Chief Infrastructure Officer at NSIA. He holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Engineering Science from Oxford University (Saint John's College), Oxford, United Kingdom (UK).

He has significant experience in the financial services industry spanning public financial management, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and asset management.

In his most recent role at NSIA, he served as Executive Director responsible for all investment and portfolio management activities of the Nigeria Infrastructure Fund (NIF), the national multi-product infrastructure fund and of the NSIA.

According to the NSIA, Mr. Umar-Sadiq led a team of over 20 investment professionals in initiating, executing and managing direct investments and private equity investments in the sectors health, agriculture, energy, transport, gas and technology industries.

He has a background at Morgan Stanley, London and Societe Generale, London, where he worked in mergers and acquisitions; and Denham Capital Management, a private equity fund management school focused on natural resources and infrastructure in 1998.

Ms. Makoju, who has been appointed Executive Director, Operations and Corporate Services, is a Chartered Professional Accountant with 27 years of experience under her belt.

NSIA said it has progressive audit and finance experience in the oil and gas, consulting, information technology and financial services industries.

In its role as financial controller at the NSIA, the Authority has indicated that it has responsibility for overseeing the financial management function of the Authority. Prior to NSIA, she worked as Finance Director at YF Petroleum, JV Accountant at Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, Finance Manager at Hewlett Packard Africa and Senior Analyst at Arthur Andersen.

She graduated with a first class degree in accounting from Obafemi Awolowo University, in 1995 as the best student in financial accounting and won the SWAN award for the best graduate student.

She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and graduated with an MBA from the University of Warwick, UK in 2014.

For its part, the NSIA said Mr. Owodunni has served as Chief Investment Officer (CIO) since 2020. He is an accomplished professional with over two decades of related experience primarily in the financial services industry covering investment management, risk management and Treasury.

He is responsible for deploying capital across various investment mandates for NSIA.

Prior to joining the NSIA, Mr. Owodunni was responsible for risk management at Dunn Loren Merrifield. Prior to that, he worked as a Risk Manager at Credit Suisse in London. He was also a member of the pioneering team that launched the Hedge Fund Development and Management Group at Merrill Lynch (now Bank of America Merrill Lynch) in London.

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