Engr. Mustafa Bello has taken over as the new Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc, following the retirement of its Founder and Group Chairman, Jim Ovia.
The bank disclosed this in a corporate notice issued in Lagos on May 5, 2026, saying that Ovia’s retirement followed the expiration of his tenure in line with regulatory requirements.
Ovia had completed the mandatory 12-year tenure permitted under corporate governance guidelines for financial holding companies, non-interest banks, and payment service banks in Nigeria.
Until he was appointed Chairman, Engr Bello was a non-executive director in the bank.
Bello graduated with B.Engr. (Civil Engineering), from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, in 1978 with Second Class Upper Division, and won the Shell prize for best project and thesis for Faculty of Engineering in 1978.
He served in the Directorate of Quartering and Engineering Service (Nigerian Army) between 1978 and 1979. He later joined the Niger State Housing Corporation between 1980 and 1983 as a Senior Civil Engineer.
He served as a cabinet Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the Federal Minister of Commerce between 1999 and 2002. He was subsequently appointed Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Investments Promotion Commission (NIPC) between November 2003 and February 2014.
He is currently the Chairman of Invest-in-Northern Nig. Limited, a special purpose vehicle for the economic and social transformation of the Northern Nigerian Economy.
He has been involved in several projects in Nigeria, including the CAC online project in 2002, developing a WTO-consistent Trade Policy for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, etc.
He has attended several conferences, missions, and meetings and represented the Federal Government of Nigeria.
