BY SAM OTUONYE
President Bola Tinubu has appointed Opeyemi Agbaje, a former executive director at Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), as the new chairman of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
His appointment follows a seven-day ultimatum issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The NLC had demanded the immediate reconstitution of PenCom’s governing board, warning of an industrial action should the government fail to comply.
Agbaje brings over four decades of diverse professional experience spanning law, banking, finance, academia, and business consulting.
According to a statement on Monday, the GTB executive is regarded as a thought leader in the fields of business, economy, and policy.
An alumnus of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Agbaje graduated with honours in Law in 1985 and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986.
According to the statement, the new PenCom chairman obtained a master of laws (LL.M.) degree from the University of Lagos in 1989 and an MBA from IESE Business School in Spain in 1997.
He is currently in the final stages of completing a doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) from Eaton Business School.
“Agbaje has worked in the law firm of Kola Awodein and Co, SAN and in the legal department of First Bank of Nigeria Plc in the 1980s, before entering mainstream banking and finance as a foundation staff of GTBank in 1990, where he rose to Assistant General Manager in eight years,” the statement reads.