Dr. (Mrs.) C. A. O. Ibru, MFR - Managing Director/CEO

Dr. (Mrs.) Cecilia Ibru holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) Degree in Sociology from North East London University and a Masters of Philosophy from the London school of Oriental and African studies.

She commenced her career at the IBRU Organisation in 1978 where she held various positions.

In 1990, she joined Oceanic Bank as General Manager, Admin and Personnel later becoming Executive Director, Finance and Administration.

Cecilia Ibru became the bank’s Managing Director /CEO in 1997. She is chairperson, Sub-committee of the Bankers’ Committee on Small and Medium Investment Equity Scheme (SMIEIS) Member, Presidential Consultative Committee on SMIEIS, Member World Economic Forum. She is a Fellow Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and Fellow Nigeria Institute of Management.

In recognition of her numerous contributions to the development of Banking in Nigeria, the Federal Government of Nigeria honoured her with the award of Member of the Federal Republic (MFR).

Ambassador Hamzat Ahmadu, CON - Director

The Wali of Sokoto was born August 15, 1930. He attended Gwadabawa Elementary School, Middle Scholl (now Nagarta College) and School of Arabic Studies, Kano (now Abdullahi Bayero University) before he proceeded to study at Balham and Tooting College of Commerce, London (now South West, London University) between 1954 to 1957.

He also studied at Queen’s College, Oxford University, England.

He also attended a full-time, concentrated German Language course at Goethe Institute for German Language, Koche-Am-See, then West Germany in 1963.

He had served as Principal Secretary to the Head of Federal Military Government, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces (President), H.E General Murtala Ramat Mohammad. He also served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to several countries. These countries include Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Moscow with concurrent accreditation to German Democratic Republic (1975 - 1978), the Kingdom of Netherlands The Hague (1978 -1981), Republic of Cameroun Yaounde (1982 – 1984) and United States of America, Washington D.C. concurrently accredited as the High Commissioner of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Nasau and Commissioner General for Economic Affairs accredited to World Bank and IMF.

Chief Naiwo, A. O. - Director

Chief Naiwo is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Britain and a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Secretaries of Britain. He started his career at Barclays Bank of West Africa now First Bank of Nigeria Plc, before moving to Arthur Andersen and Goad Chandler Limited where he was the Company Secretary. He joined the Ibru Organization as Management Accountant and held the positions of Finance Manager, Finance Director and Finance Coordinator. Chief Naiwo is Chairman, Molusi Community Bank, Ijebu Igbo, Chairman Sackol Chemicals Nigeria Limited and a director in other companies.

Omoruyi, Anthony Esq - Director

Anthony Omoruyi studied Law at the University of London after which he was called to the Nigerian Bar. A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, London, he holds a certificate in Advance Management, Public Administration and Financial Management Practices from Royal Institute of Public Administration of London.

Omoruyi served in the Central Bank of Nigeria in various capacities for 32 years rising to become the Secretary to the Board of Central Bank, a position he held until his retirement. He is now in private legal practice.

Okoro, Simpson E. - Director

Mr. Okoro holds a M.Sc. Degree in Production Engineering from the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He worked in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from 1972 to 1976. Then moved to R. T. Briscoe where he became Group Product Manager from 1976 to 1985. He was at Stern Nigeria Properties Limited from 1985 to 1995 when he joined Bouygues Nigeria Limited.

He left Bouygues in 1999 and joined BFCL Assets and Securities Limited, where he is the General Manager/CEO

Ambassador Musa, Bunu Sheriff - Director

Ambassador Bunu Sheriff graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Civil Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and obtained a Masters of Science degree from the University of Southampton.

He started his Civil Service Career at the Ministry of Works. At various times he held ministerial portfolios in the ministries of Industries, Mines and Power, Water Resources, Employment, Labour and Productivity. He was appointed Nigeria’s Ambassador to France in 1977, a position held till 1999. A Chartered Engineer, he is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers.

Ibru, Oboden Valentine - Director

Mr. Oboden Ibru holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the International Graduate School of Management (IIESE), Navara, Spain. He has a B.Sc (Hons.) Finance and B.Sc. (Hons.) Statistics from University of San Francisco, California.

He has acquired over 14 years of banking experience working in various strategic capacities including Treasury, Branch Operations & Management, Domestic and International Operations as well as Corporate Finance.

Stauffacher, Werner - Director

Werner Stauffacher, a Swiss national, holds a Higher Technical Diploma in Aluminium Technology from Bale, Switzerland.

He started his career in Swiss Aluminium in 1970. He joined Alumaco Nigeria Plc in 1971 and left in 1976 to co-establish Metalum Limited as the pioneer Managing Director.

He served as a Council member of the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria for four years. Mr. Stauffacher is also a director in other companies.

Ovie Ukiri - Director

Mr. Ukiri holds a Bachelor of Social Science in Law and Economics from Keele University, and LLM from Kings College, London University, qualifying from the Nigerian Law School in 1987.

He is a member of the Association of International Young Lawyers, the Nigerian Bar Association and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.

At Ajumogobia and Okeke, the law firm where he has been a partner since 1999, Mr. Ukiri is responsible for supervising various teams within the firm that provide legal advice in tax and corporate matters; oil and gas; capital markets; banking and finance and intellectual property. He is also responsible for providing legal advice on foreign investment in Nigeria, and in particular foreign investment opportunities in the oil and gas and telecommunications sectors of the economy

Mekwunye, Charles - Executive Director

Before joining Oceanic Bank International Plc in July 2005, Charles Mekwunye was an Executive Director in Zenith Bank Plc. from where he resigned. He holds two Masters Degrees, one in Law from the University of Lagos and the other in Business Administration from ESUT Business School. He is also an Alumnus of Oxford University Business School AMP Programme; and an Alumnus of Wharton College, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA Executive Education Programme. Mr. Mekwunye has also attended the Leadership Programme of World Business Forum, Los Angeles 2005.

He has worked as legal and Special Assistant to General Olusegun Obasanjo at the Obasanjo Holdings Limited. He worked with International Merchant Bank between 1988 and 1992 before moving over to Zenith Bank Plc. He served Zenith Bank Plc in various capacities as Head of Legal Division and Company Secretary; Head of Administration and Human Resources Division; Head of Credit Administration, Loan Review and Recovery Division; Chief Compliance Officer; General Manager/Group Zonal Head of Midwest and Eastern zones of the bank. He has over 21 years post-graduation experience out of which he has spent over 17 years in the banking industry. He is a Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management and Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London.

Duate Iyabi - Executive Director

Duate Iyabi became Executive Director following the integration between Oceanic Bank and International Trust Bank, ITB, where he was Managing Director. He was educated variously at Barking College of Arts and Science, Dagenham, Essex, England; University of Central England (formerly City of Birmingham Polytechnic); Oxford University Templeton College, Oxford, England and Harvard Business School/University of Cape Town Graduate Business School, Cape Town, South Africa. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (FCCA).

He had worked as an auditor with Tunde Williams & Co. Chartered Accountants, from where he joined International Merchant Bank as Internal Control Officer in 1983. He has also served at different times as Ag. Managing Director, Pan African Bank Ltd, Port Harcourt, 1983 to 1993, Executive Director in charge of Financial Control and Computer Systems, Allstates Trust Bank, 1993 to 1997. In early 1999 he was promoted to the position of Deputy Managing Director in charge of Systems, Electronic and Retail Banking. He became the Managing Director of the bank in June 1999. He retired from the bank in October 2003 and was appointed Managing Director of International Trust Bank Plc in August 2004, a position he held until January 2005 when ITB merged with Oceanic Bank International Plc.

Francis Okumagba - Executive Director

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree and Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Benin, Nigeria. Before joining Oceanic Bank in 1999 as a Senior Manager, he had worked in four other Banks (Ecobank, City Express Bank, Equitorial Trust Bank and Universal Trust Bank) where he served principally as a major driver in Asset and Liability Management and service excellence initiatives.

He is an Honorary Senior member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, an Associate member of the Certified Pension Institute of Nigeria and a Certified Treasurer with Treasurers Dealership Certificate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and Money Market Association of Nigeria.

He has attended various courses both within and outside Nigeria and he is an alumnus of the prestigious Lagos Business School (now Pan African University) and Cranfield University, United Kingdom. He currently oversees the Treasury and Financial Institutions Group of the Bank (which consists of Treasury, Financial Institutions, Asset Management, Investment Banking, Trustees, Custodial Banking and Stock Broking.)

Ololade Ogunlusi - Executive Director

She holds a Bachelors Degree in Accounting from University of Lancaster (1985) and is a Fellow of the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

Her career started with Shelly & Partners, a UK based firm of Chartered Accountants from where she joined Ernst & Young. Thereafter, she worked with First Interstate Merchant Bank Limited, Fidelity Union Merchant Bank Limited and Liberty Merchant Bank Limited (now Liberty Bank Plc).

She joined the services of Oceanic Bank in September 2000. She is presently the Group Head in charge of bank-wide operations. She has attended various courses including “Advanced Structured Trade Finance” at African Export Import bank “AFREXIM” and “International Trade Finance” at Deutsche bank London and Frankfurt.

Asalu, Akinpelu - Executive Director

This old Boy of Kings College Lagos graduated from the University of Lagos with an Honours Degree in Business Administration.

He began his banking career, which has spanned about sixteen (16) years in First City Merchant Bank and has won laurels both at local and global levels coupled with enormous experience in Corporate and Commercial Banking as well as strategic branch development and management.

AKIN, who conceptualised and developed the first Virtual Bank in the country amongst other products that he pioneered, has had stints with United Bank for Africa, Standard Trust Bank and Equitorial Trust Bank and now OCEANIC BANK INTERNATIONAL PLC, He is known for his innate ability to develop products which drive bottom-lines of corporate entities.

Kola Ayeye - Executive Director

Mr. Kola Ayeye is a chartered accountant with first degree in Accountancy and a Master degree in Finance, with over 22 years experience in financial services, audit and advisory services. Was involved in the start-up/turnaround teams of two banks.

His career started with Ernst & Young International from where He joined International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in 1987 as Audit Senior. Thereafter, he worked in International Merchant Bank between 1988 - 1989. He had previously worked in Oceanic Bank in Investment Banking before he joined Sunio Company Limited.

He had also worked in UBA Plc., GT Bank Plc, Commerical Bank (Credit Lyonnais) Nig. Ltd.) at management level.

He was the leader of the team that carried out a due-diligence and prepared a turnaround plan for National Bank of Nigeria and worked as the Managing Director/CEO between 2003 and 2005.

He had attended various programmes amongst which the following are key: Institute of Management Development (IMD) - Switzerland, Lagos Business School (LBS) - An affiliate of IESE Spain and Arthur D Little Managemnet Education Institute - Massachusetts.

Oti Ikomi - Executive Director

Mr. Oti Ikomi holds Bachelor of Industrial Engineering and Master of Industrial Engineering, Operations Research Specialization from State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA in 1979 and 1981 respectively.

He is an Elected Member of Omega Rho, International Operations Research Honour Society (1980) and Tau Beta Pi, American National Engineering Honour Society

He had worked at Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, NY, United States, Unilever, Lagos, Nigeria and Glaxo Smithkline, Lagos, Nigeria as Industrial Engineer, Production Engineer and Head, Industrial Engineering respectively, before he started his banking career in 1989 at Citibank.

He is a Pan-African professional with expertise and responsibilities covering 18 African Countries from Southern, East, West and North Africa. Vast expertise in Corporate and Transactional Banking offering diversified and customizable solutions to clients from strategy conceptualisation through senior relationship, product management and execution.

He worked at Citibank from 1989 - 2003 in various African Countries and later joined Standard Bank, Johannesburg in 2004 as the Director and Head of Sales.