Premium Pension Limited Appoints Babayo as Board Chairman

The Board of Premium Pension Limited has announced a few changes at the Corporate level which include the appointment of Mr. Ibrahim Alhassan Babayo as its new Chairman effective April 26, 2020. This followed the retirement of the erstwhile Chairman Arc. Yunusa Yakubu who held the position since 2017.

Mr. Babayo, a graduate of Kaduna Polytechnic and Yaba College of Technology in Estate Management and a member of the Nigerian Institute of Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) as well as International Facility Management Association (IFMA), is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cosmopolitan Cleaners Limited, an environmental management and sustainability company.  He is on the Board of Golden Construction Limited, RDS Insurance Brokers Limited and Nonsuch Health Maintenance Organization, AMML Microfinance Bank, and a Trustee of TAJ Bank Foundation, amongst others. His imprints, which started with a career in banking, traversed many sectors of the Nigerian economy including estate management, road and building construction, banking, environmental, health and facilities management.

Mr. Babayo is an alumnus of several World leading institutions, including Harvard Business School, Wharton Executive Education, University of Pennsylvania, London Business School, and National University of Singapore. Some life changing programs attended by him include, General Management Program, Leadership Edge: Strategies for new leaders, Making Corporate Boards More Effective, Essentials of leadership and Corporate Governance: Effectiveness and Accountability in the Boardroom.

During his previous service on the Board, he had chaired the Board Information Technology Steering Committee, the Committee which laid down the foundation for information technology transformation of the Company. Until his appointment as Chairman, Board of Directors, he chaired the Board Finance and General Purpose Committee that had oversight over the development of the Company’s Strategic Plan and is responsible for periodic review as well as monitoring the implementation of the Plan. He had also served in many Committees of the Board including Nominations, Audit and erstwhile Establishment Committees. 

It is these wide-ranging experiences, garnered within the last three decades, deep understanding of the business as well as the Strategic Plan of the Company that he is bringing to bear on his new assignment as the Chairman of the Board of Premium Pension Limited.

Other Board changes announced are the appointment of two Non-Executive Directors, namely: Major General Bitrus Vandos Themoi Kwaji (Rtd.) OON, and Muhammad Musa Makarfi.

General Kwaji (Rtd.) an accountant by profession, is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Strayer University Washington DC, USA, among others. Until his retirement from the Nigerian Army in 2014, General Kwaji, was the Group Managing Director, Nigerian Army Welfare Ltd/Gte, a non-profit organization, registered by the Nigerian Army under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990. During his over thirty (30) years career in the Nigerian Army, he had held several positions, including Deputy Defence Attaché Finance, Washington DC, General Manager (Investments) Nigerian Army Welfare Scheme, Commandant Nigerian Army School of Finance and Administration as well as Chairman, Military Pensions Board. General Kwaji is widely travelled and has attended several finance related courses in Nigeria and abroad.

Muhammad Musa Makarfi, an Alumnus of Bayero University Kano with over thirty years post-graduation experience, had a successful career in banking, spanning nearly two decades. Mr. Makarfi who started his banking career with the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), had a stint in Owena Bank and later held positions of responsibility, including branch manager in several branches of Habib Nigeria Ltd (now Keystone Bank).  His performance saw him attaining the position of Assistant General Manager and later served as a Director in Integrated Cash Management Services Ltd, a Central Bank licensed cash management company with Head office in Lagos. Since his retirement from active service, he has been engaged in property development and air charter services.

In his remarks on the new appointment, the Chief Executive Officer Mr. Umar Sanda Mairami said, “the appointment of Mr. Babayo as Chairman is in line with the strategic vision of Premium Pension Limited to become the foremost Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) in the Country. This is even more so when the Company is implementing its 5-year Strategic Business Objective that aims to drive business growth and transformation.” The appointment will also deepen the already sound corporate governance culture of the company.

Premium Pension Limited is a licensed Pension Fund Administrator, which started operations in the year 2005, with current Assets under Management (AuM) well in excess of N700 Billion.