NGF Chairman praises retiring DG, Okauru; appoints Shittu as replacement

The Chairman of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum (NGF), Governor AbdulRazaq AbdulRahman of Kwara, has confirmed the retirement of the organisation’s Director General, Asishana Okauru.

In a statement issued Friday night but emailed to PREMIUM TIMES Saturday, Mr AbdulRahman said, “Today, the Director General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Asishana Bayo Okauru, informed me of his decision to retire from the Forum to enable him to pursue other interests.

“After a lengthy conversation with him, I reluctantly accepted his request to end his full-time engagement with the Forum. However, he will remain with the NGF until 1 July 2024, when his pre-retirement leave will end.

“Mr Okauru has served the NGF for an unbroken 15 years. He has served with diligence, professionalism, honesty, loyalty and total commitment. We are incredibly proud of the work he did here and the height he and his team have taken the Forum.

“Under his leadership, the Secretariat, the administrative arm of the NGF, evolved into a strong and credible organisation. He led his team to expand engagement with development partners and federal and legislative arms of government while also ensuring that states’ priorities were reflected and met.

We are grateful for Mr Okauru’s service and wish him the very best in his future endeavours.”

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.

Meanwhile, Governor AbdulRahman has also appointed Lateef Shittu, the organisation’s executive director in charge of strategy and research, as acting director general.

Like Mr Okauru, Mr Shittu joined the NGF in January 2009.

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According to his biography on the NGF website, Mr Shittu is an economist, human capital development expert, and seasoned manager with close to 30 years of experience in both the private and public sectors.

After a stint with the National Oil & Chemical Company—formerly Shell Oil Marketing—Mr Shittu was appointed deputy director (Privatization and Commercialization) at the Bureau of Public Enterprise.

He also served as special assistant to the Minister of Transport and Communication, during which time he was responsible for establishing the Nigeria Communication Commission, an assignment he discharged creditably. He was the pioneer director of finance and administration and corporate services, respectively, at the Commission.

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

Mr Shittu is a fellow of several professional associations, including the Nigerian Institute of Governance and Leadership Technology, the Institute of Administrators and Research, and the Salzburg Seminar in Salzburg, Austria. He was also a member/delegate of the Commonwealth Development and Economic Forum and Nigeria’s Antennae for the European Union Industrial Development Agency in Brussels.

An Alumnus of Wittenberg University, Ohio, USA, Giordano De Amore Institute of Banking and Finance, Milan, Italy and Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria, he is a proud recipient of several merit awards.