Ex Lagos Commissioner, Reputable Banker, Tokunbo Abiru Pencilled For Lagos East Senatorial Seat

As the race for Lagos east senatorial district hots up, the contenders are also being seperated from pretenders.

The seat of the senatorial district became vacant following the demise of Adebayo Osinowo, who represented the district at the senate before his death in June.

Following Osinowo’s death, many political gladiators and influential persons from the senatorial district, especially in All Progressives Congress (APC), expressed their intention to replace him ar the upper legislative chamber.

While, along the line, some have stepped down in the spirit of Party’s unity, others have decided to see the race to the last hurdle.

However, despite plethora of candidates gunning for the vacant seat, one man has been tipped as the favourite and likely candidate for the ruling party.

The purported anointed candidate is Tokunbo Abiru, a successful banker with an astonishing public service record and a sterling private sector performance.

BIOGRAPHY

Tokunbo Abiru (born 25 March 1964) is the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Polaris Bank Limited, Nigeria. He attended the six-week Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program and Lagos Business School (Senior Management Program). He holds a B.Sc (Economics) from Lagos State University and is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and an Honorary Senior Member of The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).

Career

He rose to the position of Executive Director at First Bank Nigeria Ltd (2013-16), and was also the Honourable Commissioner of Finance, Lagos State, between 2011-13 under the dynamic and transformational leadership of Babatunde R. Fashola (SAN) as Governor.

He was appointed in July 2016 by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as Group Managing Director to lead the turnaround of the regulator-induced takeover of the then troubled Skye Bank, in a bid to preserve the stability of the overall Nigerian Financial System. The successful completion of the assignment gave birth to today’s Polaris Bank Limited.

Tokunbo has also served in various reputable boards including: Airtel Mobile Networks Limited; FBN Capital Limited (now FBN Quest Merchant Bank Limited); FBN Bank Sierra –Leone Limited; and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS). He holds a B.Sc. Economics from Lagos State University. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School & Lagos Business School (Executive Education Programmes); a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria (FCA) and a Honourary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (FCIB). He is happily married with children.

Public sector

During Abiru’s time as Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State, the State floated an N80 billion bond, earning it the EMEA Finance’s Best Local Currency Bond Award for 2012. He opened up discussions on taxation in Lagos State after the discovery of over 5.5 million tax evaders in 2013. His efforts