President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated Lamido Abubakar Yuguda, the former Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (Nigeria), as a Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
The nomination follows the redeployment of former CBN deputy governor Bala Bello to serve as Special Adviser to the President on Political Economy.
If confirmed, Yuguda will join the leadership team of the apex bank at a time when Nigeria is navigating persistent inflation, exchange-rate volatility, and broader financial-sector reforms.
About Lamido Abubakar Yuguda
Lamido Abubakar Yuguda is one of Nigeria’s most experienced financial regulators and central banking professionals, with over three decades of experience spanning monetary policy, capital markets regulation, and international financial institutions.
He previously served as Director-General of the SEC between 2020 and 2024, where he oversaw reforms aimed at strengthening investor protection, market transparency, and capital-market development.
His tenure at the SEC coincided with efforts to deepen Nigeria’s bond and equity markets while tightening regulatory oversight of investment schemes and financial intermediaries.
Earlier CBN Stint
Before leading the SEC, Yuguda built a long career at the Central Bank of Nigeria, where he joined in 1984 as a senior supervisor in the Foreign Operations Department.
Over the years he held several strategic roles within the apex bank, culminating in his appointment as Director of the Reserve Management Department, a position he held for six years before retiring from the bank in 2016.
In that role, he was responsible for managing Nigeria’s external reserves and overseeing key aspects of the country’s foreign-asset portfolio.
He has also served as an economist in the Africa Department of the International Monetary Fund between 1997 and 2001. At the IMF, Yuguda contributed to macroeconomic policy analysis and financial-sector advisory work across several African economies, deepening his expertise in monetary policy, fiscal coordination, and financial-market development.
Academic Qualifications
Yuguda holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, obtained in 1983, and later earned a master’s degree in Money, Banking and Finance from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom in 1991.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder, reflecting his professional grounding in both accounting and investment management.
His potential return to the CBN as deputy governor would represent a full-circle moment in a career that began at the institution more than four decades ago.
