By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Zenith Bank Plc on Tuesday named its erstwhile chief executive officer (CEO) Jim Ovia as its new Chairman; succeeding Steve Omojafor who resigned in June.

This is contained in a statement by Peter Amangbo, group managing director (GMD) of Zenith Bank and obtained by InvestAdvocate in Lagos Nigeria.

The statement affirmed that Ovia’s appointment as the new chairman of the bank has been approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and it takes effect from July 16, 2014.

Ovia retired from the bank in 2010, following the CBN’s guideline that stipulates a 10-year limit for banks’ chief executive officers.

This new appointment makes Ovia the second former CEO retired by the CBN’s policy to assume the chairmanship of a bank second to Akinsola Akinfemiwa, former managing director of Skye Bank Plc, who is now the current chairman of Heritage Bank Plc.

In the same vein, the bank said it also appointed Olusola Oladipo as an executive director (ED).

Oladipo joined the bank in 1995 and had previously worked with First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and Prime Merchant Bank Ltd.

Ovia is the founder of Zenith Bank and Visafone Communications Limited. He is the chairman of the Nigerian Software Development Initiative (NSDI) and also chairman, National Information Technology Advisory Council (NITAC).