Determined to improve the economic fortune of the state, Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji will on Thursday inaugurate members of the newly constituted Economic Management Team.
The inauguration is coming barely three months after the appointment of Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi as Chief Economic Adviser to the Government.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser (Media) to the Governor, Yinka Oyebode, in Ado-Ekiti on Monday, members of the Economic Management Team, who will serve on part time basis, will assist the Governor in the formulation of economic and financial policies as well as promotion of investment in line with the administration’s shared prosperity agenda.
Members of the Economic Management Team are:
- Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi (Chief Economic Adviser/Head of Team)
- Mr Feyisayo Charles Ogoji
- Mr Falil Ayo Abina
- Mr Tope Adebayo
- Dr Olugbenga Oyewole
- Ms Folakemi Fatogbe
- Arc Eyitope Ajayi
The quartet of Mr Akin Oyebode (Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development); Mr Niyi Adebayo (Special Adviser, Budget, Economic planning and Performance Management); Mrs Tayo Adeola (Special Adviser, Investment, Trade and Industry) and Mr Ebenezer Boluwade (Special Adviser, Agriculture and Food Security) are internal members of the team.
Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi:
Born on August 22, 1955, Senator Adetunmbi holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan, with extensive work experience in project financing, financial management, marketing and international development consulting.
The two-time Senator (Ekiti North) has had stints with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Cadbury, USAID and DFID before he embraced politics and subsequently got elected as a Senator in 2011. He also got re-elected and served a second term in the upper legislative house between 2019 and 2023.
FEYISAYO CHARLES OGOJI :
Feyisayo Charles Ogoji, who hails for Ikere-Ekiti, was born on November 27, 1964. He attended University of Lagos where he graduated with B.Sc Second Class (Upper Division) in Accounting in 1989. He returned to the same University and studied for his MBA degree which he obtained in 2000. He had earlier qualified as Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in 1990.
Ogoji has a rich experience in the corporate world spanning automobile, pharmaceutical, accounting and banking sub-sectors. He rose to the position of Group General Manager in UBA Plc and also held a senior board position as Non-Executive Director and Chairman, Board, Governance and Finance Committee, UBA Sierra Leone and Chad Republic. He is a fellow and member of Governing Council, Chartered Institute of Portfolio Managers of Nigeria (CIPM)
FALIL AYO ABINA:
Born on June 13, 1969. Falil Ayo Abina graduated from Ondo State University, Ado Ekiti (now Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti) with a B.Sc in Sociology in 1990; He bagged a Post Graduate Diploma in Banking and finance from the University of Ibadan in 1997 and an MBA (Finance and Management) from Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma in 2001.
He rose through the ranks from Trainee Officer to Executive Director in his 27-year career in the banking industry, 17 of which he spent in Executive Management positions. He has had stints with First African Trust Bank; Standard Trust Bank (now UBA); Oceanic Bank; Prudent Bank; Skye Bank Polaris Bank and Heritage Bank.
With extensive experience in Risk Management, project financing, Organisational re-engineering Process and Communication and Strategy, Abina retired from the Banking industry in 2020. He presently chairs the board of AACS (Consulting and Principal Investments) and Premier Events, Hospitality and Entertainment Franchise, The Lekki Consortium (TLC).
TOPE ADEBAYO
Tope Adebayo is the founding and Senior Partner at Tope Adebayo Chamber. A native of Igbara –Odo, Tope Adebayo graduated from the University of Ado Ekiti (now Ekiti State University) where he bagged a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree and emerged the Best Graduating Student from the Faculty of Law. He also attended Nigerian Law School for his Barrister at Law.
Adebayo attended the University of Lagos for his Master of Law (LLM) where he also remarkably emerged as the Best Graduating Student for his LLM programme in his set. He later attended Harvard Kennedy School for an Executive Education programme.
He is the Founding and Senior Partner at Tope Adebayo LP with vast experience in Alternative Dispute Resolution, Specialised Transactions and Corporate/Commercial Practice. His other areas of interest include Energy and Projects, Business Recovery and Insolvency, Corporate Investment and Restructuring, Capital Market and Election Petitions. He is a members Capital Market Solicitors’ Association and Fellow, Chartered institute of Arbitration (FCIArb).
OLUGBENGA OYEWOLE
Oyewole bagged a B.Sc degree in Economics in 1983 from University of Ile Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife). He returned to the institution for his MSc in Economics in 1987, MBA Finance in 2000 and Ph.D. Economics in 2018.
He has a wide range of experience as a consultant to several local and international organizations as well as state governments and institutions, where he has brought his expertise to bear on issues of finance, transparency in the system, good governance and training of personnel for effective service delivery.
Oyewole served as Public Financial Management Consultant, Office of Accountant General, Ekiti State, August to September, 2019; he has also served as Technical Director, Public Financial Management, Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), USAID/Nigeria States Accountability, Transparency and Effectiveness (State2State). He has provided support to Lagos, Kano, Ondo and Kebbi States on Public Finance Management, budget and planning.
A strategic planner of repute, Oyewole, had, at different time, served as Public Financial Management Expert, French Development Agency; Debt Management Consultant, West African Institute for Financial Management (WAIFEM)/Debt Management Office State-By-State Debt Sustainability Training for Nigerian States from October 2021 to December 2022, among other several high-level responsibilities.
Ms Folakemi Fatogbe
Folakemi Fatogbe, a banker and risk management expert was a former Director, Risk Management at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). She is the Chief Executive Officer/Founder, De-Risking Lab, and the Creative Director/ Founder of Oyaato.
Born in United Kingdom to Ekiti parents, Fatogbe attended St. Louis Girls Secondary School, Ondo, for her secondary education. She studied Communication Arts at the University of Ibadan and started her banking career at the Public Relations Department, Owena Bank. She later bagged an MBA in Finance and International Business at the Cardiff Business School, UK. From there, she went into UK banking sector and started in financial control and corporate strategy at the NatWest Banking Group, Head Office in the City of London.
She later worked for the Bank of England as a Senior Risk Analyst covering Emerging Markets, (African and Gulf banks). She also worked as Programme Director for Banking at NCR and from there to Lloyds Financial Markets, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and Chase Cooper Consulting as a Risk Consultant. She joined the CBN upon her return to Nigeria In the heat of the 2008/2009 global financial crises. She was headhunted into the dual roles of Special Adviser to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor on Banking Reforms and Risk Management as well as Director of Risk Management.
Eyitope Ajayi
Eyitope is an Architect and a leading real estate investment manager and Managing Partner at Axial Nigeria Limited, a company focused on providing housing and financial services for the masses in Nigeria. He advises institutions, corporations, and individuals on the viability of their real estate investment projects and plans. He is actively involved with tackling precarious social inequality and global housing deficit problems in developing communities.
Eyitope studied Architecture at Ryerson University, Toronto where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture; the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, USA, where he obtained a Master’s degree in Architecture and an Executive MBA at the Lagos Business School. He is a member of the Real Estate Council of Ontario Canada, The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Architects Registration Council of Nigeria, Nigerian Institute of Architects, and an Ambassador of the Stanford Institute for Innovation in developing economies, an initiative working to end the cycle of global poverty.
As a real estate investment specialist broker with Ipro realty, Ontario, he works in the burgeoning real estate scene in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) with an unwavering interest in community development through real estate investments and housing affordability. Eyitope also worked with the renowned Canadian Architect John Van Nostrand of planning Alliance and regional Architects now called SVN Architects involved in community development programme with OKLNG Nigeria.
The inauguration of the Economic Management Team members will take place at the Exco Chamber, Governor’s Office, Ado-Ekiti on Thursday, July 6, 2023, by 12noon.
The Biodun Oyebanji administration is committed to building a very strong economic base for the state and ensuring prosperity for the people. The Governor is attracting very good and experienced hands from various sectors and in different parts of the world, to assist in achieving this laudable goal. This is in addition to working with development partners, institutions and private sector players to stimulate economic growth and development in Ekiti State.
Welldone. They are brilliant sets of people. Kudos to our serious minded Governor.