Pan-African financial services group, United Bank for Africa Plc, shone brightly at the maiden edition of Nigeria CFO awards, with its Group Chief Financial Officer (GCFO) and the Finance Team emerging double winners at the awards night held on Saturday, October 2, at Four Points Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Lagos.

UBA CFO, Ugo Nwaghodoh, beat other nominees in the banking category, including; Adesola Kazeem Adeduntan CFO, FirstBank, Stanley Amuchie, CFO Zenith Bank, Oluseyi Kumapayi, CFO Access Bank, and Oyinkan Adewale, ED/ Chief Financial Officer, Union Bank to emerge as the CFO of the year.

The Finance team of the year was also given to finance division of UBA for their exceptional handling of the bank’s finances in the last one year, which has resulted in the bank emerging as one of the top performers in the Nigerian banking industry.

Receiving the awards, UBA’s CFO, Ugo Nwaghodoh thanked the organisers for the recognition noting that he is proud to be working with the best finance team in the Nigerian banking industry. He dedicated the awards to his team who he said works tirelessly to ensure that the bank’s operations runs smoothly.

Also speaking at the awards night, the Chief Executive Officer of Instinct Business magazine, organisers of the CFO awards, Akin Naphtal, explained that the awards is borne out of the need to recognise the achievements of financial executives who have been outstanding in their profession and have contributed in no small measure to the growth of their organisations and the economy at large.

The awards nights attracted CFOs from different industries across Nigeria with many CFOs praising the organisers for putting the awards together and creating a platform to recognise CFOs who usually operate in the back end of the business without any recognition for their immense contribution to the success of any firm.

Mr Nwaghodoh, UBA’s GCFO is a seasoned financial analyst and accountant with about two decades experience spanning assurance, advisory, financial control, strategy and business transformation, investor relations, mergers and acquisitions, business integration and project management. Prior to his appointment as Group Chief Finance Officer of UBA, he was at different times, Group Financial Controller, Group Chief Compliance Officer and Head – Performance Management in UBA. Before joining UBA in 2004, he had almost one decade experience with Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

He holds a BSc degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and an MSc degree in Finance and Management from Cranfield University, England. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and Institute of Credit Administration. He is also a Honorary Senior Member (HCIB) of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), and a member of Cranfield Management Association.

•Photo shows, L-R: Publisher Instinct Business/Organiser of the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Award, Mr. Akin Naphtal; Group Chief Finance Officer, UBA Plc and recipient of CFO of the year, 2015 Banking category, Mr. Ugo Nwaghodoh; Group Editor, Instinct Business, Mrs. Kehinde Olesin; and Group Chief Finance Officer, Jagal Group, Mr. Richard E. Turner, at the maiden edition of the CFO awards held in Lagos.