| Cecilia Ibru | |
| Birth Name: | Cecilia Ibru |
| Birth Date: | 22 March 1946 |
| Birth Place: | Nigeria |
| Nationality: | Nigerian |
| Occupation: | Managing director, chief executive officer |
| Criminal Charges: | 25 counts of corporate fraud |
| Spouse: | Michael Ibru |
Cecilia Ibru (born 22 March 1946) is the former managing director and chief executive officer of Oceanic Bank.[1] She is Nigeria's first female bank CEO and was dubbed the first lady of banking.[2] [3] In 2010, she was convicted of corporate fraud and sentenced to prison as part of a multibillion-dollar banking scandal.
Born to Edward and Victoria Sido Yes, Ibru attended Saint Margaret’s Grammar School in Ilesa from 1960 to 1965 along with her twin Lucy and studied at University Tutorial College in London from 1967 to 1968.[4]
She graduated from the University of London in 1971 with a BS in sociology.[4] Ibru pursued her graduate studies at the university and received a Masters of Philosophy from the SOAS University of London in 1977.[5]
In 1978, Ibru joined the Ibru Organization as project director. After two years in this role, Ibru went on to serve as international finance coordinator, a position she held until 1990.[5]
Ibru began working with Oceanic Bank in 1990 as general manager.[4] After seven years with Oceanic, she was promoted to managing director and CEO.[4] Oceanic began as a small family-owned bank, but grew into one of the Nigeria’s largest publicly quoted institutions during Ibru’s stewardship.[5]
On 13 August 2009 Ibru was amongst five bank CEOs who were dismissed. Five replacements were named by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The deputy governor, Sarah Alade, announced that John Aloh would replace Ibru at Oceanic. Others replaced on the same day included the CEO of the Union Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Bath Ebong, who was replaced by Olufunke Iyabo Osibodu.[6]
Ibru appeared in court alongside three other senior banking executives in Nigeria. They all denied charges that they were involved in a multibillion-dollar banking scandal.[7] Anti-corruption police brought criminal charges against executives from five banks rescued in a 400bn naira ($2.6bn; £1.6bn) government bail-out. All the banks were found to have low cash reserves because of bad loans. It was alleged that Ibru extended credit facilities of 16 billion NAIRA to a company who had no collateral. On 8 October 2010, Ibru was convicted on 25 counts of corporate fraud. She was ordered to reimburse $1.2B (£786m) in cash and assets, and sentenced to six months of prison.[8] The court confiscated over 100 properties from her in Nigeria, Dubai and the United States.[9]
Ibru co-founded the Michael and Cecilia Ibru University in 2015 in Agbara-Otor, Delta State.