ANALYSIS: Dangote steps down from NSE, for Aig-Imoukhuede, a new dawn

Billionaire Dangote

The announcement by African Billionaire, Aliko Dangote of his plans to step down as President of the Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), at a meeting of the exchange council on Monday, has pave the way for the erstwhile chief executive of Access Bank Plc, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede to step in as a ready successor.
To Aig, becoming the president of the NSE will be a compensatory appointment in view of his failure to get the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) top job. He had been positioned and assured of becoming the next governor of the apex bank after Lamido Sanusi tenure expires in June; however, high wired politics sidelined him for the outgoing chief executive of Zenith Bank, Godwin Emefiele.
According to Dangote, who said his quitting the NSE council will enable him focus on his company’s expansion drive in Africa, as this would free him to properly position his varied interests on the continent, Aig-Imoukhuede is well qualified to take off from where he will be leaving.

Aig-Imoukhuede

“You know Aigboje is highly regarded in financial circles and has excellent government contacts that would ensure that the exchange continues to have a good relationship with the market regulator and others in government,” Dangote has said of the former Access Bank chief.
Aig-Imoukhuede is expected to mount the saddle at the NSE by July at the exchange
Annual General Meeting (AGM) and could be in the best position to drive the market’s demutualization, which has been on the table for a long time now, but bugged down by politics and vested interest.
Analysts said Aig-Imoukhuede elevation at the NSE will provide him opportunity to put into use all the strategic seasons he had with some experts in preparatory to take over as the CBN governor, before he was sidelined. It was widely speculated that president seems to be more disposed toward Aig-Imoukhuede candidature as the CBN governor because of his closeness to first family and his perceived loyalty to government policy. Other factors in his favour include the fact that he is from the south-south region, the same region the president belong
However, the sudden departure of Sanusi from the CBN and political expediency pushed his choice to the background.

"At least, now he would be kept busy with the new assignment, having vacated his position as chief executive at Access Bank and the dream of becoming the CBN governor truncated," one analyst said.
Dangote tenure should have expired next year’s July, having been first elected the president of the NSE council in 2009 for initial period of three years and renewable term of another three years.
Aig-Imoukhuede is an alumnus of Harvard Business School's Executive Management Programme. He holds LLB and BL degrees from the University of Benin and the Nigeria Law School respectively.