The 45 minister-designates including Audu Abubakar and have been given portfolios since last week are set to be sworn in by President Bola Tinubu today.
Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, a specialist in corporate finance and investment management who has been nominated the Minister for Steel Development, is one of the members of the cabinet to keep an eye on.
Audu graduated from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Business Economics and a second-class upper.
He continued on to complete his education by earning a master’s degree in international securities, investment, and banking (ISIB) from the Henley Business School at the University of Reading.
Prince Audu, who is remarkably well-rounded, earned a second MBA from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
He started his illustrious 20-year career in corporate and investment banking, asset and pension fund management, and the required National Youth Service (NYSC) in 2003 with Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc in the Global Market Treasury section.
By the time former President Olusegun Obasanjo signed the Pension Reform Act into law in 2005, he had been appointed Head of Investment Management for Stanbic IBTC Pensions. Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, the biggest administrator of pension funds in Nigeria, was founded under Audu’s direction.
Eventually, he was elevated and appointed to lead the group’s Division of Investment Management from 2008 to 2013.
Prince Audu then transferred to Stanbic IBTC’s asset management company, where he advanced to the position of Executive director of the business from 2013 to 2023.
He was appointed by the board to be the venture capital firm’s chief executive officer concurrently, and he served in that capacity from 2013 until 2023.
He worked for a number of international banks during his 20-year career, including Bank of New York Mellon in Boston and Credit Suisse’s worldwide headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
The young Audu possesses excellent leadership and public service DNA because he was born into the family of the late Prince Abubakar Audu, an accomplished banker and the first Civilian governor of Kogi State.
One of Kogi State’s most well-known and admired families for philanthropy and community improvement is the Audus.
Audu competed for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket in the recently completed Kogi State primary elections because he was driven to use the knowledge and expertise he had gained in the private sector to advance the growth and development of his state.
After finishing fourth in the election, he chose not to pursue legal action and supported the candidate in order to help the party do well in the upcoming elections.
Audu would take on the challenge of modernizing the Ministry of Steel Development, one of those recently launched by President Bola Tinubu, after the inauguration on Monday.
The ministry was combined during the previous government and became the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.
It is believed that diversifying the economy, increasing the GDP, and providing jobs for the populace are all key components of President Tinubu’s agenda.
It is anticipated that the country’s iron and steel sector will be able to lower the demand for foreign currency utilised to import steel goods.
Audu won’t be starting from scratch, but the ministry might use the crucial investment to increase production capacity, technology, a savvy business and revenue team, and data in its operations and management to draw in foreign direct investment (FDI).
There is no disputing, however, that the ministry may have found the ideal guy to carry out its plan to become the hub for industrialisation in Nigeria with the Oxford-trained assets manager at the forefront of affairs.