The Senate, on Wednesday confirmed the nominations of Ahmed Lawan Kuru; and Bello Hassan as Managing Directors of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigerian; and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, respectively.
Based on two separate reports of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, chaired by Senator Uba Sani (APC – Kaduna Central), the upper chamber also confirmed the nomination of Ebelechukwu Uneze and Aminu Ismail as Executive Directors of AMCON; and Muhammad Ibrahim, as Executive Director of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation.
While the AMCON executives were confirmed for a second and final five-year term, having being appointed first in 2015, those of the NDIC were first term appointees of the Federal Government.
In his presentation, according to a statement by Ezrel Tabiowo, Special Assistant (Press) to President of the Senate, Senator Sani lauded Kuru for the “tremendous and tangible transformation and performance in effectively discharging its mandate during his first tenure through the introduction of new policies and frameworks.
“Strategically under his leadership, AMCON partnered with investors and operators for value-enhanced exit of its portfolio companies as well as the introduction and implementation of the Asset Management Partners (AMP) scheme to assist with the resolution of small loans which in turn created over 3000 jobs both directly and indirectly.
“He also championed the creation of the Asset Tracing Unit which has led to more extensive discovery of assets and subsequent recovery of indebtedness while simultaneously having proactive negotiations with debt holders to achieve prompt and optimal settlements,” the lawmaker said.
Presenting the report on screening of the nominees for the NDIC to the Plenary, Sen. Sani affirmed that both appointments were in accordance with Sections 54 and 83 of the NDIC Act No 16 of 2006 as amended.
He also said his committee found out that they possessed the required technical knowledge, academic qualifications and professional experience to serve as MD/CE and ED (Operations) of NDIC respectively.
Senate President Ahmed Lawan therefore presented the nominations to the Committee of Whole, who unanimously endorsed and consequently confirmed their appointment.
The Senate President, according to a statement by Bashir Nuhu, Director, Communication & Public Affairs Department at the corporation, congratulated the two appointees and wished them well in their endeavours.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on December 18, 2020, forwarded both names to the Senate for screening and confirmation.
Before his appointment as NDIC’s MD/CE, Hassan was the Director, Banking Supervision Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), a position to which he was appointed in February, 2020. Prior to that, he served in the Operations Directorate and as Director, Other Financial Institutions Department of the Apex Bank.
A bank examiner of over three decades, Bello joined the services of the CBN in 1990 after a stint with the Katsina State Ministry of Finance.
At the CBN, he also represented the apex bank on the board of different flagship public Corporations includingthe NDIC, Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Financial Institutions Training Center (FITC), FMDQ Clear Limited, and Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).
The new NDIC helmsman is a 1988 graduate of Accounting from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria and holds an MBA from the same university in 2006; in addition to a Diploma in Business Continuity Management from Coventry University, UK.
He is also a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
