Ernest Ebi
Fidelity Bank Plc appoints three new non-executive directors, among them, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Ernest Ebi has emerged as a non-executive director and chairman designate of the board of directors, Fidelity Bank Plc. The appointment comes on the heels of the retirement of the erstwhile chairman of the bank, Christopher Ezeh who, after over 11 years of meritorious service to the bank has retired, having attained the retirement age for non-executive directors in line with the bank’s policy. The board also approved the appointment of Charles Chidebe Umolu and Kings C. Akuma as not- executive directors of the bank, subject to the approval of the CBN.
Until his retirement from the CBN, Ebi was deputy governor, Policy and Corporate Services for 10 years. He brings to the board of Fidelity Bank, a solid wealth of corporate experience. Prior to that, Ebi’s sterling career saw him rising to the top position of deputy managing director/chief operating officer at Diamond Bank plc in 1998, having also served as managing director/chief executive officer of New Nigeria Bank plc. He was also an executive director, African Continental Bank, ACB. Other executive management positions held by Ebi at different times were at International Merchant Bank, Nigeria between 1981 and 1993.
A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN, Ebi has participated in several management development courses both locally and overseas in the areas of strategic planning, financial and risk management amongst others. Some of the notable leading institutions where he received executive education include IMD Switzerland, Harvard, Oxford-Said Business School, amongst others.
He started his working career in the United States of America, USA, as an Accounts Technician with the National Association of Counties, Washington DC in 1976 and subsequently worked at the Federal Savings & Loans Association, Washington DC, where he served as the Assistant Vice-President, Community Federal Savings & loans Association. In a very distinguished career within the financial services industry, Ebi went on to serve in leadership positions in various notable banking sector organizations where he acquired mastery of executive leadership, financial goals delivery, business management, human resources capacity building, and general business performance management. He served as the Chairman of Deputies of the Group of Twenty-Four countries (G24 countries) and as a director of Afromedia Plc until July 28, 2015.
He serves as a member of the governing board of Venture Garden Nigeria and has been an independent non-executive director of Dangote Cement Plc since January 30, 2014
Apart from the corporate world, he has served extensively on many for-profit as well as not-for-profit organizations.
Ebi attended Holy Ghost College, Owerri from 1970 and Howard University, Washington DC, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Business degree in Marketing in 1978 and a Master’s degree in Business Administration in 1979. He holds the National Award, MFR.
Also appointed as a non-executive director is Kings C. Akuma, who is currently the managing director of Hammakopp Consortium Limited, an affiliate of Nestoil Group Plc. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting (1984) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, and an MBA from the University of Lagos. A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Akuma has hands on extensive managerial experience in the oil and gas services operations, relationships, security and community management spanning over 10 years.
The board of Fidelity Bank also approved the appointment of Charles Chidebe Umolu asnon-executive director. Umolu is currently, a managing consultant with Corimol Nigeria Limited and a chief executive at Corimol Consulting Limited. He has over 18 years cognate experience in banking. He was trained as a banker by Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York (USA). He obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Economics (1973 – 1977) from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife. Umolu also bagged an MBA (1978 – 1979) from the same institution.
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