Buhari approves new board members for Nigeria’s sovereign wealth agency

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the list of nominees into the reconstituted Board of Directors of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority.

The agency, which announced the approval on Wednesday in a statement in Abuja, said the list had earlier been approved by its Governing Council.

The National Economic Council, NEC, during its last meeting received the list of nominees.

The list of the new Board nominees includes Olajide Zeitlin, representing the South West geo-political zone, as Chairman; Bello Maccido (North West), Lois Laraba Machunga-Disu (North Central) and Urum Kalu Eke, (South East).

Others included Halima Buba (North-East) and Asue Ighodalo (South-South).

The new board would succeed the Mahey Rasheed-led board, whose tenure ended last month.

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority is a state-owned investment agency established with a mandate to manage the fund set aside for investments in real and financial asset in strategic sectors of the economy.

As a natural resources depended economy, NSIA funding is dependent on the excess revenues accruing to the federation account from the export of crude oil and other commodity trading activities revenues.

The NSIA was established by an Act of the National Assembly in May 2011, with its first Board inaugurated on October 9, 2012

Shareholders of the NSIA consist of the Federal Government, the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, as well as all the 774 Local Governments and Area Councils in the federation.

Their equity interest in the fund is shared in accordance of the existing national revenue sharing formula of 52.86 per cent to the federal, 26.72 per cent (states) and 20.60 per cent Local Government Councils.

The agency, which commenced operations with a seed funding of $1 billion, has had the funding increased by an addition $250 million from the excess crude oil account.