Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru, FCA popularly called Tokunbo Abiru (born 25 March 1964) is a Nigerian Banker and Politician. He is the Senator representing the Lagos East Senatorial district at the 9th Nigerian National Assembly. He was the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of

Polaris Bank Limited Polaris Bank Limited is a commercial bank based in Nigeria. It is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the country's banking regulator. In October 2022, the Bank was acquired by Strategic Capital Investment Limited (SCIL). Overview Polaris B ...

, Nigeria. He attended the six-week Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program and Lagos Business School (Senior Management Program). He holds a B.Sc (Economics) from

Lagos State University Lagos State University, also known as LASU, is located in Ojo, with sub-campuses at Ikeja and Epe both towns in Lagos State, Nigeria. The university was established in 1983 by the enabling law of Lagos State, for the advancement of learning ...

and is a Fellow of The

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) is a professional accountancy body in Nigeria. It is one of the two professional accountancy associations with regulatory authority in Nigeria, the other being the Association of National ...

(ICAN) and an Honorary Senior Member of The

Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) is the umbrella professional body for bankers in Nigeria. The CIBN was incorporated in 1976 as the Nigerian Institute of Bankers. It was chartered in 1990, and is now covered by the CIBN Act 5 ...

(CIBN). On 24 August 2020, Abiru resigned from Polaris Bank to contest the Lagos East senatorial election under the platform of All Progressives Congress

Career

He rose to the position of executive director at First Bank Nigeria Ltd (2013–16), and was also the Honourable Commissioner of Finance,

Lagos State Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 states, it is both the most populous and smallest in area. Bounded to the south by the Bight of Benin and to the west by the international border with Ben ...

, between 2011 and 2013 under the dynamic and transformational leadership of Babatunde R. Fashola (SAN) as Governor. He was appointed in July 2016 by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as group managing director to lead the turnaround of the regulator-induced takeover of the then troubled Skye Bank, in a bid to preserve the stability of the overall Nigerian Financial System. The successful completion of the assignment gave birth to today's Polaris Bank Limited. Tokunbo has also served in various boards, including Airtel Mobile Networks Limited; FBN Capital Limited (now FBN Quest Merchant Bank Limited); FBN Bank Sierra –Leone Limited; and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS). During this pandemic covid19, he has as donated 150,000 face masks to primary schools in his zone.

Public sector

During Abiru's time as Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State, the State floated an N80 billion bond, earning it the EMEA Finance's Best Local Currency Bond Award for 2012. He opened up discussions on taxation in Lagos State after the discovery of over 5.5 million tax evaders in 2013. His efforts also led to increased Land Use Charge revenue generations to the tune of N6.2bn. Abiru is also a member of the Lagos HOMs Committee, which is in charge of the Lagos State Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (HOMs) instituted to reduce the housing deficit in the State. He was elected as the senator of Lagos East Senatorial district in a bye-election on December 5, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abiru, Tokunbo 1964 births Living people Nigerian chief executives Yoruba bankers Nigerian bankers Lagos State University alumni Nigerian accountants Lagos Business School alumni Nigerian corporate directors