President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment of two new board chairpersons for strategic Nigerian government agencies; Eyitope “Topsy” Kola-Oyeneyin to lead the Nigerian. Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), and Muhammad Hadi Mutallab to chair the Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA).The appointments, announced by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) on July 13, 2026, were described by the ministry as non-political moves aimed at strengthening governance across institutions driving investment, industrialisation, and Nigeria’s non-oil export agenda.Here’s a closer look at who they are.Eyitope Kola-Oyeneyin: From Banking Executive to Global Consulting PartnerKola-Oyeneyin, widely known in industry circles as “Topsy,” brings more than two decades of experience spanning banking, management consulting, digital transformation, and public policy to her new role.She began her career at IBM before moving into banking, where she spent nearly seven years at FirstBank Nigeria in senior leadership roles. There, she designed and implemented the bank’s corporate transformation program, later leading its expansion into Sub-Saharan Africa; spearheading integration across six countries and running its international banking business. She also spent time at the Central Bank of Nigeria, where she led the implementation of the CBN’s payments transformation program, work that fed into initiatives like the Cashless Lagos programme and the Shared Agent Network Expansion Facility (SANEF), both aimed at deepening financial inclusion in Nigeria.She then joined McKinsey & Company, where she became a Partner and the inaugural co-lead of the firm’s payments practice for Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EEMA); a role she held between 2017 and 2023, advising financial institutions, regulators, and investors across the continent. In 2024, she launched her own firm, Augmentum Advisory, a strategy and transformation consultancy where she now serves as Managing Partner, supporting senior leaders across Africa’s private, public, multilateral, and philanthropic sectors.Kola-Oyeneyin holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida and a Master of Science in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University. She currently also sits on the board of MTN Nigeria.Muhammad Hadi Mutallab: Entrepreneur With Roots in Finance and MaritimeMutallab takes the helm at NEPZA; the agency responsible for promoting, licensing, regulating, and managing Nigeria’s export processing zones; as an entrepreneur, investment executive, and corporate director with a background spanning finance, investment, agribusiness, and corporate governance. He is the founder of Dattaku Global Investment Limited, which he established in 2012 with an initial capital of $10,000 and has since grown into a diversified investment vehicle. His portfolio spans offshore support vessels, real estate, fintech, and e-commerce companies. He currently sits on the boards of several companies, including Barade Holdings Limited and Jaiz Bank Plc, where his experience across maritime, real estate, and tech startups has involved him in high-level, strategic decision-making. Mutallab studied at Canadian University Dubai, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Management, before completing an MBA specialising in Islamic Finance, which he finished in May 2018 with Magna Cum Laude honours. Both NIPC and NEPZA sit at the center of Nigeria’s push to attract capital and grow non-oil exports; NIPC as the agency courting and coordinating investment into the country, and NEPZA as the regulator of the free trade and export processing zones meant to fast-track industrialisation. Pairing a global transformation and fintech policy expert with a hands-on investment entrepreneur suggests an attempt to bring both institutional credibility and commercial instinct to the two boards, as the administration continues to reshuffle leadership across federal agencies under its broader governance and investment agenda.
