Stakeholders and development economists have commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for appointing Muhammad Sani Abdullahi popularly called Dattijo as the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The nomination, which was announced in a statement last Friday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, was met with enthusiasm.

In a social media post, Joe Abah, the Nigerian country director of Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), an international development partner, described Datti as an “extremely bright development economist.” He commended the President for the appointment, which he said was well-deserved.

Other development economists in various social media posts have commended the president for the appointment of the CBN governor and four deputies, describing the development as an opportunity for a fresh start for the Nigerian economy.

Abdullahi holds a BA in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, an MA in Development Economics and Politics from the University of Manchester and a second MA in International Affairs and Diplomacy from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

He also attended leading courses on public finance at the London School of Economics; Sustainable Development at Columbia University in New York and Advanced Project Management at Oxford University in the UK. He is currently undertaking a PhD at Henley Business School, University of Reading.

Abudullahi is a development economist with nearly two decades of experience in development policy making, public finance and project implementation. He served as a political advisor in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, in New York. He was a member of the Secretary-General’s core team that formulated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Prior to serving at the UN, Dattijo worked as an Economist and Deputy National Program Manager in the Nigerian Presidency, where he supported the planning and coordination of development interventions in 36 countries, with a focus on accelerating the country’s progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). He was later appointed Economic Adviser to the Nigeria Governors Forum, a political and policy think tank for the 36 state governors.

In 2018, he was one of two Nigerians appointed to the World Bank’s Expert Advisory Council on Citizen Engagement. He was recently appointed by the prestigious Henley Business School of the University of Reading in the UK as an Associate and Founding Member of its Dunning Africa Center.

Seeking to capitalize on his experience as a seasoned development economist, Abdullahi was appointed to the Kaduna State Government as Commissioner, Planning and Budget Commission (2015 to 2019) where he led the development of the Kaduna State Development Master Plan. In July 2019, he was appointed Chief of Staff to the Governor of Kaduna State, where he served dutifully until October 2021. He was then re-appointed as the Commissioner for Planning and Budget, a position he held until March 2022, when he voluntarily resigned. .

He is expected to use his vast experience to implement critical reforms in the CBN that will strengthen the confidence of Nigerians and international partners to restructure the Nigerian economy towards sustainable growth and prosperity in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda.

He is a British Chevening Scholar, a member of the University of Oxford Business Alumni Network, a Fellow of the Archbishop Tutu Institute of Leadership and most recently a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Africa Leadership Program – ALIWA. He recently wrote the bestselling book Disruption: Rethinking Governance to Work for the Poor.