President Bola Tinubu has appointed Opeyemi Agbaje, a former executive director at Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), as the new chairman of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
The appointment follows a “seven-day ultimatum” from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which had demanded the immediate reconstitution of PenCom’s governing board.
A statement on Monday noted that Agbaje brings over four decades of diverse professional experience, spanning law, banking, finance, academia, and business consulting.
A graduate of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), he holds master’s degrees from the University of Lagos and IESE Business School and is currently completing a doctorate.
According to the statement, Agbaje has worked in the law firm of Kola Awodein and Co, SAN and in the legal department of First Bank of Nigeria Plc in the 1980s, “before entering mainstream banking and finance as a foundation staff of GTBank in 1990, where he rose to Assistant General Manager in eight years.”
The statement added that he “enjoyed a successful banking career rising to Executive Director before voluntarily exiting the industry in 2004.”
Since 2004, he has served as the Founder and CEO of RTC Advisory Services Ltd, a business consultancy “focusing on economy, policy, strategy and organisational transformation.”
The statement also said, “From 1999, Opeyemi taught business strategy and The Environment of Business at Lagos Business School on a part-time basis briefly joining the full-time faculty and serving as Senior Fellow (Associate Professor equivalent) and Head of Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship. He continues to date to teach at the Business School.”
Agbaje’s public service includes roles on the boards of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund and as the CEO of the Ogun State Security Trust Fund.
In 2005, he worked at the private equity firm Capital Alliance, where he played a key role in assessing investment opportunities in the emerging pension industry.
