Why Tinubu Suspended CBN Governor, Replaced Him with Shonubi

By Izunna Okafor, Awka

Folashodun Adebisi Shonubi has taken over from the ousted Godwin Emefiele as the (acting) Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

This came following his appointment on Friday by President Bola Tinubu shortly after he announced the suspension of Emefiele.

According to the information from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Willie Bassey, Emefiele’s suspension was as a result of on an ongoing investigation as well as because of a planned reform of the financial sector.

Shonubi who was born on the 7th of March, 1962, was the Director of Operations, CBN. He attended the University of Lagos from 1978 to 1983 and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.

Thereafter he obtained a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1985 with bias in Production Engineering from the same University.

From 1988-1989 he shifted grounds to Finance and obtained a Masters’ in Business Administration specializing in Finance. He began his working experience as a Consultant Engineer at Mek-ind Associates and worked from 1984 to 1989. From 1989 to 1990, he was a Marketing Executive at Inlaks Computers Limited.

He moved to Citibank Nigeria Limited as Head, Treasury Operations from 1990 to 1993. He joined Agusto & Co. Ltd as a Supervising Consultant from 1993 to 1996 from where he moved to MBC International Limited as Deputy General Manager, Banking Operations & Information Technology from 1999. In 1999, he joined First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited as Vice-President, Operations & Information Technology and was there till 2002.

In 2003, he moved from FCMB to Ecobank Nigeria Plc as an Executive Director, Operations & Information Technology and in 2007 he became the Director, Information Technology and Corporate Services, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited. He was recruited by Union Bank of Nigeria Limited as an Executive Director, Operations, Technology and Services, September 2009 to April 2012.

He became the Managing Director/CEO, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc from May 2012 to October 2018. October 2018 to date, Mr. Folashodun was the Deputy Governor, Operations of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) representing the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on the Board of FIRS since the 9th of December, 2019. He is married with children.