David Omueya Dafinone OFR (12 March 1927 - 30 September 2018) was a Nigerian accountant and politician, who was a senator for Bendel South during the

Nigerian Second Republic The Second Nigerian Republic was a brief formation of the Nigerian state which succeeded the military governments formed after the overthrow of the first republic. Background Contested elections and political turbulence in the Western region ...

. He was a member of the

National Party of Nigeria The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was the dominant political party in Nigeria during the Second Republic (1979–1983). History Formation The party's beginning could be traced to private and sometimes secret meetings among key Northern Nigeri ...

(NPN). Dafinone worked on various fact finding committees during the military administration of

Yakubu Gowon Yakubu Dan-Yumma "Jack" Gowon (born 19 October 1934) is a Nigerian former military officer and statesman who served as the head of state of Nigeria from 1966 to 1975. Gowon was Nigeria's leader during the Nigerian Civil War where he delivered ...

Life

David Dafinone was born on 12 March 1927, in Sapele, Nigeria. Son of Thomas Omueya and Agbami (''nee'' Onomor) Dafinone. Dafinone finished his secondary education at

Abeokuta Grammar School Abeokuta Grammar School is a secondary school in the city of Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. It is currently located at Idi-Aba area, of Abeokuta. Often called the first grammar school in Nigeria, it is attended by students from all parts of Nige ...

, he later became an employee of the colonial service working at the Northern Secretariat in

Kaduna State Kaduna (, جىِهَر كَدُنا; مدينة كدونا; , ; ) is a States of Nigeria, state in the northwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The state capital is its namesake, the city of Kaduna (city), Kaduna, which was the List of Nigerian ...

. Dafinone worked in Records and Registration Department and when his immediate superior was promoted, he was appointed administrative officer in an acting capacity of the finance department. At the finance department, his function was to make treasury estimates of the funding needs of the native authorities within the Northern region. On returning to Nigeria he worked as a manager for Delloittes, Lagos, from 1963 to 1966 In 1966, Dafinone founded D.O. Dafinone & Co (now Howarth Dafinone), a chartered accounting firm. In 1997 he became a consultant to the firm He also served as an arbitrator for the government under the Ports Amendment Decree of 1969 which paved the way for the acquisition and compensation of port facilities owned by

United Africa Company The United Africa Company (UAC) was a British company which principally traded in West Africa during the 20th century. The United Africa Company was formed in 1929 as a result of the merger of Royal Niger Company, The Niger Company, which had b ...

Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri, Udu, Okpe and Uvwie are the commercial ...

and

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

. A year later he was in another committee, a tribunal constituted to probe the affairs of the Apapa road project. Dafinone's other high-profile public job was his appointment in 1971 by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to investigate the corrupt practices at Niger Pools officially known as the Nigerian Pools Company, a Federal Government owned company. Initially he was appointed Sole Administrator. His report, later uncovered unethical charges such as forging of winning coupons after results had been announced. The investigation led to the closing of the firm and the imprisonment of some employees. In 2003, the Nigerian Federal Government conferred on him one of its highest honours, that of the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR). He was re-elected for another 4-year term, which was cut short by the fall of the Second Republic, and the advent of military rule, on 31 December 1993, only 3 months into the term. He died on 30 September 2018.

References

{{Authority control, state= Nigerian accountants Nigerian politicians 1927 births 2018 deaths