DG of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Asishana Okauru, retires from service

The Director General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Asishana Okauru, has retired from the Forum after over 15 years in office, sources familiar with the development have told PREMIUM TIMES.

The sources said Mr Okauru submitted his retirement notice to the Forum’s Chairman, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara, this week.

Our sources said the director-general’s retirement will take effect on 1 July 2024.

When contacted Friday night, Mr Okauru confirmed he was retiring from the Forum. “Yes, it is true,” he said. “Everything that has a beginning must have an end. It has been an exciting and fulfilling years of service. I thank all the governors, my colleagues at the secretariat, our development partners and other collaborators with whom we achieved far more than we imagined.”

When asked why he is leaving now, Mr Okauru said he wants to pursue other interests.

Mr Okauru was appointed in January 2009 to restructure the secretariat of the NGF, a nonpartisan association of Nigeria’s 36 governors, and transform it into a policy hub.

Under his leadership, the NGF evolved into a strong and credible organisation, providing administrative and policy support for governance at the sub-national levels.

Before joining the NGF, Mr Okauru was a foundation management staff of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and subsequently became the pioneer director of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) till November 2008.

He previously worked as a management trainee at Arthur Andersen & Co., Nigeria, and later as an operations analyst and an e-business analyst at IBM in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, USA.

Mr Okauru earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics (Second Class Upper Division) from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1984. He subsequently studied Law at the University of Ibadan and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1989. He also has a joint Master’s degree in Business Administration and Information Science from North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in the United States and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Havard Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.

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