Oniha takes office at DMO as Nwankwo bows out

Mrs Patience Oniha as been appointed as the new Director General for the Debt Management Office DMO. The Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo approved the appointment of Mrs Patience Oniha as the new Director General of Debt Management Office (DMO). The appointment was made public by the Minister of Finance Mrs Kemi Adeosun in Abuja. Oniha, from Edo State, takes over from the former Director General, Dr Abraham Nwankwo who retired after serving for two terms of five years each. The handover formalities took place in a brief ceremony at the DMO Office in Abuja.

She retired as a director in the agency, served in the Efficiency Unit of the Ministry of Finance before her recent appointment as DMO Chief Executive. The new Director General was part of the success story the Office achieved in the past 10 years.

During that period, DMO scored a number of firsts in its operational efforts to manage the country’s debt profile. These include the establishment of 37 sub-national Debt Management Departments for the 36 states and the FCT, culminating in the construction of the first-ever comprehensive and reliable Domestic Debt Database for all the states and the FCT in 2012 The office succeeded in putting in place Primary Dealing-Market Making (PDMM) system for the FGN Bonds, enabling two-way quotes in the trading of FGN Bonds.

It also led to the introduction of a vibrant and liquid Secondary Market for FGN Bonds; listing of FGN Bonds on the Nigerian Stock Exchange; inclusion of Nigeria’s Sovereign Bond in Global Market Indices, the JP Morgan Index and the Barclays Capital Index; issuing of Nigeria’s Eurobond in the International Capital Market and its listing and trading on the London Stock Exchange. During the period it saw the issuing of Nigeria’s Sovereign Retail Bonds, the FGN Savings Bond and its listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and on the FMDQ OTC Exchange.

Others are issuing of Nigeria’s Diaspora Bond and the first-ever registration of Nigeria to access the Unites States financial market under the stringent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules and regulations; designing and implementing Nigeria’s National Debt Management Framework; Introducing the soon to be launched first-ever Nigeria’s Sovereign Non-Interest Bearing Bond: the Sukuk as well as exporting of Public Debt Management services through capacity-building support to other African countries, including the Sudan, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Kenya and Uganda.