CLOSE-UP: Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, engineer, IT expert, banker — and acting CBN governor

June 9, 2023 10:35 pm

Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi, appointed acting governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by President Bola Tinubu on Friday, is not your typical banker.

The CBN deputy governor (operations) trained as a mechanical engineer, went into marketing, moved into information technology — and became a central banker.

TheCable understands that the decision to suspend Godwin Emefiele, the governor, was taken on Friday afternoon after a number of scenarios, including an outright sack, was contemplated.

However, presidential sources said a sack was considered legally complicated because of the CBN law which empowers only the senate to remove the governor by two-thirds majority.

By law, one of the deputies must complete Emefiele’s tenure, which expires May 2024.

The central bank has four deputy governors but Shonubi was considered above Aishah Ahmed, Edward Adamu, and Kingsley Obiora.

PRODUCT OF UNILAG

Shonubi, born on March 7, 1962, is a product of the University of Lagos.

He attended the university from 1978 to 1983, receiving a BSc in mechanical engineering before studying for an MSc in the same field at the same university.

After working as a consultant engineer at Mek-ind Associates from 1984 to 1989, he changed his line of education and profession by studying for an MBA with focus on finance.

With an MBA in his hands, he moved into the IT industry which would later shape his career.

THE OPERATIONS MAN

He was marketing executive at the Inlaks Computers Ltd from 1989 to 1990 and took a giant leap when he was appointed head of treasury operations at Citibank Nigeria Ltd in 1990.

In 1993, he moved to Agusto & Co. Ltd as a supervising consultant, working there for three years before joining MBC International Ltd as deputy general manager, banking operations and IT.

In 1999, he was on the move yet again, taking up the position of vice-president, operations and information technology at the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Ltd.

He left FCMB in 2003 for Ecobank Nigeria Plc, where he became executive director, operations and information technology.

Shonubi was also director, information technology and corporate services at Renaissance Securities Nigeria Ltd as well as executive director, operations, technology and services at Union Bank of Nigeria Ltd from 2009 to 2012.

Before he was appointed into CBN in October 2018 by President Muhammadu Buhari, he was MD/CEO of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).

Pending the appointment of a new CBN governor or the unlikely recall of Emefiele, who was suspended by Tinubu Friday night, Shonubi is now the chief central banker of Africa’s biggest economy.