Olufemi "Femi" Olusegun Pedro (born 29 January 1955) is a
Nigerian
Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...
politician who served as
deputy governor of
Lagos State
Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...
from 2003 to 2007. Before his election alongside
Bola Tinubu
Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu (born 29 March 1952) is a Nigerian accountant and politician who served as the Governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 and Senator for Lagos West during the brief Third Republic. In June 2022, he was chosen as the A ...
, he was a co-owner and the chief executive officer of
First Atlantic Bank
First Atlantic Bank is a universal bank in Ghana. It is licensed as a commercial bank, by the Bank of Ghana, the central bank and national banking regulator.
Location
The bank headquarters are located at 1 Seventh Avenue, Ridge West, in Accra, ...
, now
FinBank.
Pedro is the current chairman of the
Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria
Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) director-general is Umar Dikko Radda.
Foreign relationship
On February 9, 2013, SMEDAN signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Industry of Indonesia's Dire ...
(SMEDAN), and the founding chairman of the Lagos State Sports Trust Fund.
Personal life and education
Early childhood
Femi Pedro was born in Lagos Island to Pa Olajide Pedro, an
Aguda retired officer of the defunct Western Nigeria Marketing Board, Ikeja, and Modupe Pedro (née Abayomi) on 29 January 1955. Pedro is a descendant of Pa Sanusi Adeyinka Pedro, whose father settled in the
Shomolu
Somolu (or Shomolu) is a local government area (LGA) in Lagos. It is located in Southwest Nigeria, North of Lagos city and its administrative headquarters is located on Durosimi Street. Somolu Local Government is part of the Lagos East Senatorial ...
area of Lagos before moving to Bamgbose Street in Popo Aguda,
Lagos Island
Lagos Island (''Ìsàlẹ̀ Èkó'') is the principal and central local government area (LGA) in Lagos, it was the capital of Lagos State until 1957. It is part of the Lagos Division. As of the preliminary 2006 Nigerian census, the LGA had a pop ...
.
Education
Pedro received a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
in economics from the
University of Wisconsin–Superior
The University of Wisconsin–Superior (UW–Superior or UWS) is a public liberal arts university in Superior, Wisconsin. UW–Superior grants associate, bachelor's, master's and specialist's degrees. The university enrolls 2,559 undergraduates ...
(1976–1978) and a master's degree in economics from
Wichita State University
Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...
(1979–1981).
Family
He is married to Jumoke Pedro, a
High Court judge in
Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...
.
Business career
Pedro started his banking career in 1982 when he joined the
Central Bank of Nigeria
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the central bank and apex monetary authority of Nigeria established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on 1 July 1959.
The major regulatory objectives of the bank as stated in the CBN Act are ...
(CBN). He rose to the post of assistant manager in 1985, and became a research economist. In 1986, he was admitted as an associate of the
Chartered Institute of Bankers
The London Institute of Banking & Finance is the oldest training and professional body for banking and financial services in England and Wales, and works internationally with partners to establish ethical and professional standards across the ...
, London, United Kingdom. He worked at First City Merchant Bank (now
First City Monument Bank
First City Monument Bank (FCMB), a member of FCMB Group Plc, is a financial services holding company headquartered in Lagos. FCMB Group Plc has nine subsidiaries divided among three business groups: commercial and retail banking, investment bank ...
) afterwards in 1988, where he became the executive assistant to the bank's chairman and chief executive officer (CEO). He became the deputy manager and head of corporate planning in the same year.
Pedro became one of the first investors in
Guaranty Trust Bank
Guaranty Trust Holding Company PLC also known as GTCO PLC is a multinational financial services group, that offers retail and investment banking, pension management, asset management and payments services, headquartered in Victoria Island, Lagos ...
with
Fola Adeola
Tajudeen Afolabi Adeola is a Nigerian businessman and investor. He is the Founder of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank Plc.)., a member of the Commission for Africa, as well as founder and chairman of the FATE Foundation.
Education
Adeola completed h ...
,
Tayo Aderinokun
Olutayo Aderinokun (May 8, 1955 – June 14, 2011) was a Nigerian entrepreneur who until his death was the CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank. He was also a recipient of the Member of the Federal Republic, one of Nigeria's prestigious national awards.
...
, Gbolahan Osibodu, Femi Akingbe, and Akin Opeodu. He later took up a senior managerial role at its inception in 1990,
and was responsible for opening a multitude of its branches across the southern and northern parts of Nigeria. He served in various capacities at the bank until 1997, when he voluntarily retired. On the eve of his retirement, he was admitted to the fellowship of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).
In January 1998, Pedro ventured into private business as the chairman of Agro-Corp Ventures Limited, a commodity processing company. The same year (Nov 1998), he was appointed managing director and CEO of Comet Merchant Bank (now FinBank, following the acquisition of the bank by a consortium of investors including himself).
Political career
In his years as the deputy governor, Pedro was appointed chairman of Lagos State Revenue Mobilization committee. They restructured, reorganised and re-engineeed the Board of Inland Revenue. His experience in the banking sector helped increase Lagos State's internally generated revenue from a rate of 300 million
naira
The naira (sign: ₦; code: NGN) is the currency of Nigeria. One naira is divided into 100 ''kobo''.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the sole issuer of legal tender money throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It controls the volume ...
per month to 7 billion naira within eighteen months. He was popularly referred to as "Mr. Pedronomics", primarily due to his affinity towards micro and macro-economic policies.
Pedro introduced and implemented the PSP and waste management model that is currently used in Lagos. He was also in charge of conducting extensive research in Brazil with other cabinet members to study and understand the novel metropolitan bus transport system which resulted in the BRT.
Gubernatorial run
On 13 December 2006, Pedro dumped the
Action Congress
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a List of political parties in Nigeria, Nigerian political party formed via the merger of a faction of Alliance for Democracy (Nigeria), Alliance for Democracy, th ...
to declare under the
Labour Party. He became the first-ever Nigerian to contest for a gubernatorial election under the Labour Party platform. On 30 January 2007, Pedro named
Oluranti Adebule
Oluranti Adebule (born 27 November 1970) is a Nigerian politician, she served as the 15th Deputy Governor of Lagos state and the sixth woman to occupy the office from 2015 to 2019.
Early life
Idiat Oluranti was born on 27 November 1970 to the fam ...
as his running mate for the 19 April elections.
2011 elections
On 24 September 2010 Pedro declared his intention to run for the 2011 governorship election in Lagos State on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Pedro lost the PDP's party primaries to Ade Dosunmu. He was subsequently appointed as executive vice-chairman of the PDP South West Fund Mobilization Team, which was put together by the presidency to lead the PDP efforts to raise substantial funds for elections in the southwest.
Reconciliation with Tinubu and return to APC
Throughout 2013, indications of reconciliation became evident between Tinubu and Pedro, who had fallen apart in the buildup to the 2007 elections. The Oba of Lagos publicly and privately encouraged the reconciliation after Tinubu attended the wedding ceremony of Pedro's son in 2012, which was the first time they had been publicly seen together since 2006.
In December 2013, Pedro reportedly held a secret meeting with Tinubu, the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and the interim National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande, to finalise his move back to APC.
Within a matter of days of the report breaking out, Pedro released a statement confirming the allegations.
Post-2015 political appointments
Within days of his return to APC, Pedro was appointed as the chairman of the APC Registration Exercise Committee in February 2014 in Ondo State.
On 12 February 2018, he was appointed as the pioneer chairman of the Lagos State Sports Trust Fund.
On 1 March 2018, Pedro was appointed by President
Muhammadu Buhari
Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015.
Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...
as the chairman of the board of directors of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of NIgeria (SMEDAN).
See also
*
Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu (born 29 March 1952) is a Nigerian accountant and politician who served as the Governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 and Senator for Lagos West during the brief Third Republic. In June 2022, he was chosen as the A ...
*
Babajide Sanwo-Olu
Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu (born 25 June 1968) is a Nigerian politician and the current Governor of Lagos State. He became governor under the platform of the All Progressives Congress after contesting and unexpectedly winning the gubernatorial p ...
*
Babatunde Raji Fashola
Babatunde Raji Fashola ( yo, Bàbátúndé Rájí Fáṣọlá; born 28 June 1963) is a Nigerian lawyer and politician currently serving as the Federal Minister of Works and Housing of Nigeria. He served two terms as Governor of Lagos State ...
*
Akinwunmi Ambode
Akinwunmi Ambode (born 14 June 1963) is a Nigerian politician who served as Governor of Lagos State from 2015 to 2019. He was a civil servant for 27 years and a financial consultant before running for public office.
Ambode ran for office of th ...
References
External links
Pedro Names Adebule as Deputy CandidateMore Groups throw weight behind Femi PedroFemi Pedro's New PoliticsFemi Pedro and the Challenges AheadPedro Sets Up Political StructureFemi Pedro's Urban PoliticsGodfatherism in PoliticsPedro and The Action Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedro, Femi
1955 births
Living people
Yoruba businesspeople
Yoruba bankers
Yoruba politicians
Nigerian people of Brazilian descent
Action Congress of Nigeria politicians
Labour Party (Nigeria) politicians
Nigerian bankers
Businesspeople from Lagos
University of Wisconsin–Superior alumni
Wichita State University alumni
20th-century Nigerian businesspeople
21st-century Nigerian businesspeople
Politicians from Lagos
All Progressives Congress politicians
Deputy Governors of Lagos State
Nigerian expatriates in the United States
Nigerian chairpersons of corporations