UAC of Nigeria Plc now has a new Chairman, he is seasoned lawyer and administrator, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma,.

Senator Udoma, 56, who assumed office on January 2, 2010, succeeds Lt.-General Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi (rtd) who voluntarily retired from office on January 1, 2010 having attained the age of 70.

UACN also announced the elevation of Managing Directors of two of its subsidiaries – Abdul Akhor Bello of UACN Property Development Company (UPDC) Plc and Joseph Ibrahim Dada of the Grand cereals and Oil  Mills Limited (GCL) – to its Board as Executive Directors, while former Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, (SEC) Dr Suleyman Abdu Ndanusa, comes on board as non-executive director.

Bello becomes the Chief Financial Officer of the  Company, while Dada is the new Executive Director, Corporate Services and will take charge of Human Resources, Group Marketing Communications and Strategy.

All the appointments are effective from January 2, 1010.

A seasoned   board administrator, Udoma, had his secondary school education at King’s College, Lagos.  He is a graduate of Oxford University, England.  Senator Udoma served as the Special Adviser to the Minster of Petroleum and Natural Resources from  September 1993 to March 1994.  He was a member  of the Senate form 1999 to 2007, during which time he held various offices including serving as the Chief Whip of the Senate, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, the Chairman of the committee on National Planning, Economic Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

The senior Partner of Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie, a firm of Legal Practitioners, Senator Udoma is also a Director of Unilever Nigeria Plc.

Bello replaces Mr Layi Adetomiwa, the Head of Finance of UACN Plc, who is retiring from the company after 31 years.  A fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accounts of Nigeria (ICAN)).  Bello, who holds HND from Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, joined GCL on October 23, 1989 as Chief Accountant.  He served in various capacities in the UAC Group before his appointment as the Managing Director of CAP Plc and later UACN Property Development Company Plc.  Bello, an Oxford Advanced Management and Leadership Programme (OAML) graduate of SAID Business School, Oxford University, UK, has attended various local and overseas courses.

Dada, who holds B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and M.Sc (Marketing) degree from the University  of  Lagos, joined A J Seward Division as a Management Trainee (marketing) in September 1983.  He held several management positions in the Company including Divisional Ice Cream Director, UAC Foods in February 1997 and Acting Divisional Fast Foods Director, UAC Foods before his appointment as the Managing Director of GCL.  Dada, an Advanced Management Programme (AMP) Graduate of Kellogg School of Management, Northwester University, Chicago, Illinois, USA, has attended various local and overseas courses.

Ndanusa, who holds a  doctorate degree from St. Clements University, UK, is also a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with B.Sc Economics and MBA degrees.  He is a lawyer, certified stockbroker and an AMP graduate of Harvard Business School, USA.  Ndanusa served variously as Special Assistant to the Minister of Commerce and Lead Consultant of the Central Bank of Nigeria Bank Consolidation Monitoring