Board of Directors

Chairman of the Board

Fola Adeola

Mr. Fola Adeola is the founder and chairman of FATE Foundation which promotes entrepreneurship among Nigerian youths.

Fola is also the co-founder of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc where he served as the pioneer Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for 12 years. He served as the Chairman of the Pension Reform Committee, Chairman of the National Pension Commission from 2004 to 2006, and as Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc from 2005 to 2006.

Fola currently serves as the Chairman of MainOne Cable Company, Allianz Insurance Plc and Lotus Capital and also sits on several other boards.

Managing Director/ CEO

Michael Nzewi

Mr. Michael Nzewi is one of the founding partners of CardinalStone and has been Managing Director of the Company since January 2017.

Michael served as a Director in the Capital Markets Division of Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), London. Prior to SCB, Michael served as the Head of Corporate Finance at Vetiva Capital Management.

Michael holds a BSc. in Accounting from the University of Benin, Nigeria and an MBA from Said Business School, Oxford University, UK.

He is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

Executive Director

Mohammed Garuba

Mr. Mohammed Garuba is one of the founding partners of CardinalStone.

Prior to founding CardinalStone, Mohammed served as Director of Equity Securities at Renaissance Capital. Before joining Renaissance Capital, Mohammed served as Managing Director of Zenith Securities Limited.

Mohammed began his professional career in the Finance and Treasury department of Intercellular Nigeria Limited then joined the Asset Management Division of Stanbic Bank Plc (IBTC).

Mohammed holds a B.Sc. in Insurance from the University of Lagos and an MBA from London Business School. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers.

Non-Executive Director

Mairo Bashir

Ms. Mairo Bashir is the Chief Executive Officer of CreditCorp Limited.

Prior to joining CreditCorp, Mairo served in various management positions in United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) before becoming the Executive Director, Corporate Services of UBA. She was also a Director in UBA Capital. Mairo has worked in various financial institutions including International Merchant Bank Limited (IMB).

Mairo is a founding member of Women in Management and Business (Wimbiz) and is a board member of Information Connectivity Solutions Limited and Enownow Limited.

Non-Executive Director

Asue Ighodalo

Mr. Asue Ighodalo is a founding partner of Banwo & Ighodalo, a leading Corporate Law firm in Nigeria.

Asue specializes in Corporate Finance, Capital Markets, Energy & Natural Resources, Mergers & Acquisitions, Banking & Securitization and Project Finance.  He is a member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group; Commercial Law and Taxation Committee of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Policy and Monitoring Committee of the National Council on Privatization.

Asue is also the Chairman of Sterling Bank Plc and sits on the board of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, Dangote Flour Mills Plc, Allianz Insurance amongst others.

Non-Executive Director

Femi Ogunjimi

Mr. Femi Ogunjimi is one of the founding partners of CardinalStone.

He is a Managing Partner of the private equity affiliate company, CardinalStone Capital Advisers Limited. Femi served as Vice President – Investment Banking Division, Goldman Sachs, New York.

Before Goldman Sachs, Femi was Senior Associate at PwC – PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Femi holds a BSc. in Accounting from the University of Lagos and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

Non-Executive Director

Yomi Jemibewon

Mr. Yomi Jemibewon is one of the founding partners of CardinalStone and is currently a Managing Partner of CardinalStone Capital Advisers Limited.

Yomi served as Vice President – Financial Advisory in Avante Capital. Prior to joining Avante, Yomi worked at the New York offices of Bain & Company. At Bain, Yomi worked primarily on executing strategic due diligence and developing post-acquisition growth strategy and turn-around initiatives for various private equity and corporate engagements.

Yomi holds BSc. and MSc. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Company Secretary

Azizah Abiola

Azizah Abiola is the Head, Legal Department and Company Secretary of the CardinalStone Group. Prior to joining CardinalStone, Azizah was an Associate with the law firm Giwa – Osagie & Co. where she advised on commercial transactions and performed company secretarial functions for clients.

Prior to that, she worked with the law firm, Prime Solicitors where she drafted processes and appeared in federal and state courts in respect of civil matters.

Azizah has an LLB (Hons) Commercial Law degree from the University of West of England, Bristol and was admitted to the Nigerian Bar as Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Azizah joined the board in 2015.