President Bola Tinubu has appointed Opeyemi Agbaje, a former executive director at Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), as the new chairman of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).
The appointment comes shortly after the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) issued a seven-day ultimatum demanding the reconstitution of PenCom’s governing board, warning of a possible nationwide strike if the government failed to act.
Agbaje, who brings over 40 years of experience in law, banking, finance, academia, and business consulting, is widely regarded as a thought leader in business, economy, and policy. He graduated with honours in Law from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in 1985 and was called to the Nigerian Bar the following year. He later obtained a master’s degree in Law from the University of Lagos in 1989 and an MBA from IESE Business School in Spain in 1997. He is currently completing a Doctorate in Business Administration at Eaton Business School.
His professional career began at Kola Awodein and Co, SAN, and the legal department of First Bank of Nigeria Plc before joining GTBank as a foundation staff in 1990. He rose through the ranks to become Executive Director before voluntarily retiring in 2004.
Since then, he has led RTC Advisory Services Ltd, a business consultancy firm, while also lecturing in business strategy at the Lagos Business School. He previously served on the board of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (2011–2019) and briefly as CEO of the Ogun State Security Trust Fund (2019–2021).
Agbaje is also known for his policy contributions, having written the popular “Economy, Polity, Society” column for BusinessDay newspaper from 2006 to 2019 and hosting “The Policy Council” on Channels TV between 2011 and 2015.
The new PenCom chairman is married with children, holds the title of Knight of John Wesley (KJW) in the Methodist Church, and is noted for his philanthropy.
