Buhari Appoints Isa-Dutse As Executive Director On IsDB Board

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Dr Mahmoud Isa-Dutse as an Executive Director on the Board of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in Jedda, Saudi Arabia.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.

Isa-Dutse is the immediate past Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget, and National Planning.

He is to take over from Mr Shuaibu Gambo who was appointed on July 1, 2011, and has held the position for about 10 years.

“The new executive director is expected to bring to the board new ideas, innovations, and contributions and provide Nigeria with opportunity for a voice to demand and access additional resources from the bank”, the statement said.

During his tenure as permanent secretary, Isa-Dutse represented Nigeria on boards of Governors/Directors of African Export-Import Bank, Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development, World Bank, African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, ECOWAS Bank for Investment, Central bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), among others.

According to Shehu, he also interacted with development partners and international financial institutions during his tenure as permanent secretary and is quite familiar with the modus operandi of multilateral institutions such as IsDB.

The position of Executive Director on the Board of IsDB is non-residential (part-time) and executive directors travel to attend board meetings quarterly, or as determined by management to consider critical policy issues.

Nigeria purchased 7.65 per cent of the capital stock of the IsDB in 2010 and this has entitled the country to a single-country constituency as against the previous 11 country-constituency to which Nigeria previously belonged.

The acquisition also entitles Nigeria to a permanent seat on the Bank’s Executive Board of Directors.

In her reaction, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, thanked the President for Isa-Dutse’s appointment.

“Dr Isa-Dutse has the needed experience and knowledge that is required to inject new ideas, innovation, and contribution on behalf of Nigeria on the board of the bank.

“He has very impressive credentials for the position,” the minister said.