Union Bank of Nigeria (Plc) has announced the confirmation of Mrs Beatrice Hamza Bassey as the Chairman Board of Directors of the bank.

The appointment of Beatrice Hamza Bassey as the substantive Board Chairman of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has been confirmed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. This is according to a notice sent by Union Bank to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), their shareholders and other stakeholders on April 29, 2021, and signed by its Company Secretary, Somuyiwa Sonubi.

This follows her initial appointment by the board as the acting Chairman after the death of the former Chairman of the Bank, Cyril Odu, in September 2019.

The statement from Union Bank reads, “This is to inform the Nigerian Exchange Limited, esteemed shareholders and other stakeholders that following the appointment of Mrs Beatrice Hamza Bassey as the Acting Chairman, Board of Directors (‘the Board’) of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (‘the Bank’), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed the appointment of Mrs Beatrice Hamza Bassey as the substantive Chair of the Board of Directors and the Bank.”

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Beatrice Hamza Bassey is an accomplished corporate lawyer with more than twenty years cognate experience. For nearly six years (between February 2015 and November 2020), she worked as the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at Atlas Mara Limited, Union Bank’s major investor. During her time on this role, she led Atlas Mara’s acquisition of about nine banks as well as the actualisation of other strategic initiatives.

Prior to her stint with Atlas Mara Limited, Beatrice Hamza Bassey worked for sixteen years as a Partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP.

Besides her current Board appointment with Union Bank, Beatrice Hamza Bassey also serves as the Chair of Risk & Compliance Committee at African Banking Corporation of Botswana Limited. She is also a Member of the Board of Directors of Banque Populaire Du Rwanda, an Independent Board Member at IGT and a Member of the Board of Trustees at Vernado Realty Trust.

Hamza Bassey holds an LLB in Law from the University of Maiduguri, a BL from the Nigerian Law School and an LLM from Harvard Law School. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1995 and the New York Bar in 1999. She is a fellow of the prestigious David Rockefeller Fellows Programme of the Partnership for New York City.