Cecilia Ibru

Cecilia Ibru
Born Cecilia Ibru
(1946-03-22) 22 March 1946
Nigeria
Nationality Nigerian
Occupation Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer

Cecilia Ibru (born on March 22, 1946) is the former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Oceanic Bank.[1] Ibru began her work at the Ibru Organization. In 2009 she was arrested and pleaded guilty to charges of fraud. She was jailed and fined approximately one billion euros.[2][3]

Early Life and Education

Cecilia attended Saint Margaret’s Grammar School in Ilesa from 1960 to 1965 and studied at University Tutorial College in London from 1967 to 1968.[4]

She graduated from the University of London in 1971 with a BS in Sociology.[4] Cecilia pursued her graduate studies at the university and received a Masters of Philosophy from the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1977.[5]

Career

In 1978, Cecilia joined the Ibru Organization as Project Director. After two years in this role, Cecilia went on to serve as International Finance Coordinator, a position she held until 1990.[5]

Cecilia began working with Oceanic Bank in 1990 as General Manager.[4] After seven years with Oceanic, she was promoted to Managing Director and CEO.[4] Oceanic began as a small family-owned bank, but grew into one of the Nigeria’s largest publicly quoted institutions during Cecilia’s stewardship.[5]

On 13 August 2009 Ibru was amongst five bank CEOs who were dismissed. Five replacements were named by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The Deputy Governor, Sarah Alade, announced that John Aloh would replace Ibru at Oceanic. Others replaced on the same day included the CEO of the Union Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Bath Ebong, who was replaced by Olufunke Iyabo Osibodu.[6]

Ibru appeared in court alongside three other senior banking executives in Nigeria. They all denied charges that they were involved in a multibillion-dollar banking scandal.[7] She was sentenced on October 8, 2010 on 25 counts of fraud and ordered to reimburse 1.29bn (approximately one billion Euros,[2] and she was ordered to serve six months of prison.[8] Anti-corruption police brought criminal charges against executives from five banks rescued in a 400bn naira ($2.6bn; £1.6bn) government bail-out. All the banks were found to have low cash reserves because of bad loans. Ibru had extended credit facilities of 16 billion NAIRA to a company who had no collateral. The court confiscated over 100 properties from her in Nigeria, Dubai and the United States.[9]

Michael and Cecilia Foundation

Ibru created the Michael and Cecilia Ibru Foundation in 2006, which donates money to support vocational training, elderly care, health programs, disease prevention, and food production.[10]

References

  1. Online Nigeria, "Cecilia Ibru", Online Nigeria, Accessed December 9, 2012.
  2. 1 2 Assets raided, TheWillNigeria Archived June 8, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. She’s sleek and a fighter; tale of a rogue Nigerian billionaire, October 2009 The Nation, Retrieved 23 February 2016
  4. 1 2 3 4 Aitec Africa, "Dr. Cecilia Ibru, Oceanic Bank, Nigeria", Aitec Africa, Accessed December 9, 2012. Archived February 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. 1 2 3 McKinsey Quarterly, "Leading a developing-market bank: An interview with the CEO of Nigeria’s Oceanic Bank", McKinsey Quarterly, Accessed December 9, 2012. Archived December 2, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  6. CBN sacks 5 Banks Directors, Gabriel Omoh and Babajide Komolafe, 14 August 2009, VanguardNGR, Retrieved 23 February 2016
  7. Archived September 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Banking investigation, OnLineNigeria
  8. BBC report
  9. BOLAJI AKINOLA (25 July 2012). AUTHORITY STEALING: How Greedy Politicians and Corporate Executives Loot the World’s Most Populous Black Nation. AuthorHouse. pp. 92–99. ISBN 978-1-4772-1891-4.
  10. "About Us". Michael and Cecilia Foundation. 2006. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
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