Buhari nominates IMF executive director as CBN deputy gov

President Muhammadu Buhari has nominated Kingsley Obiora as the new deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to replace Okwu Joseph Nnanna, the deputy governor, economic policy directorate, who will retire on the 2nd of February, 2020.

Dr. Nnanna who has been in that position since 2015 is an economist and a central banker. He has three decades of post-qualification professional experience. He attended William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey and University of Houston, in Houston Texas, USA from 1975-80, where he studied Finance, Public Policy and Economics. He graduated with B.A, M.A and PhD degree. Since graduation, Dr Nnanna has attended several economic policy-oriented training programs.

Dr Nnanna was appointed Deputy Governor (Financial System Stability) Central Bank of Nigeria on February 3, 2015. His work experience includes a brief period of teaching at the University of Houston at Clear Lake City campus (USA) and at the federal government Polytechnic, Akure (Nigeria) in 1980-82. And from 1982-1989, he worked as a staff economist in the international trade and exchange rate section of the Research Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

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Obiora is an alternate executive director in the Africa Group One Constituency of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington DC, US.

In a letter to Senate President Ahmad Lawan, Buhari said the nomination was in accordance with the provision of section 8(1) (2) of the CBN Act 2007.

Obiora has a first degree from the University of Benin as well as masters and doctorate degrees in economics from the University of Ibadan.