BEVERLY HILLS, May 30, (THEWILL) – The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has approved the appointment of Ms. Patience Oniha as the new Director-General, Debt Management Office, DMO, following the retirement of of the former D-G, Abraham Nwankwo who on Friday served out his full term of ten years.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun announced the appointment of Oniha in Abuja, according to an unsigned statement from the DMO.
The Edo State-born Oniha is said to be a highly experienced banker and chartered accountant, with over 30 years experience in financial sector having worked with Ecobank Nigeria, Standard Chartered Bank, and KPMG, among others.
Oniha retired as a director in the agency, served in the Efficiency Unit of the Ministry of Finance before her latest appointment as the DMO chief executive.
According to the statement, the handover formalities between her and Nwankwo, who retired after serving for two terms of five years each, took place in a brief ceremony at the DMO headquarters in Abuja on Friday.
While describing Oniha as part of the success story the DMO recorded in the past 10 years, it said, “During that period, DMO scored a number of firsts in its operational efforts to manage the country’s debt profile. These include the establishment of 37 sub-national Debt Management Departments for the 36 states and the FCT, culminating in the construction of the first-ever comprehensive and reliable Domestic Debt Database for all the states and the FCT in 2012.”
The statement listed other achievements to include: “putting in place Primary Dealing-Market Making (PDMM) system for the FGN Bonds, enabling two-way quotes in the trading of FGN Bonds and, therefore, the introduction of a vibrant and liquid Secondary Market for FGN Bonds; listing of FGN Bonds on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.”
Others are the inclusion of Nigeria’s Sovereign Bond in Global Market Indices, the JP Morgan Index and the Barclays Capital Index; issuing of Nigeria’s Eurobond in the International Capital Market and its listing and trading on the London Stock Exchange; issuing of Nigeria’s Sovereign Retail Bonds, the FGN Savings Bond and listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and on the FMDQ OTC Exchange.
The achievements also included issuing of Nigeria’s Diaspora Bond and the first-ever registration of Nigeria to access the United States financial market under the stringent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules and regulations; designing and implementing Nigeria’s National Debt Management Framework; introducing the soon-to-be launched first-ever Nigeria’s Sovereign Non-Interest Bearing Bond: the Sukuk as well as exporting of Public Debt Management services through capacity-building support to other African countries, including the Sudan, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Kenya and Uganda.
The statement added that Oniha is expected to consolidate on these achievements in her new role.
