About Us

Chairman

Mohammed Garuba

Mohammed is one of the co-founders of CardinalStone Partners Limited. Prior to joining the firm, he served as Director of Equity Securities at Renaissance Capital where he was responsible for setting up and driving the company’s securities trading and sales business in Nigeria. Before joining Renaissance Capital, Mohammed served as Managing Director of Zenith Securities Limited, a subsidiary of Zenith Bank Plc, where he oversaw strategy, deal origination and execution. He began his banking career at Investment Banking & Trust Company Limited (Now Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc) where he worked in asset management and was involved in managing institutional investors, mutual funds, and structured funds.

Mohammed holds an MBA from London Business School and a B.Sc. in Insurance from the University of Lagos. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers of Nigeria. He is also an Associate of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment, UK and an alumnus of Yale University and Harvard Kennedy School.

He is the Founder and President of Ansar Heritage Empowerment Foundation. He is passionate about boxing, football, golf and tennis and enjoys mentoring, reading, and volunteering.

Non – Executive Director

Michael Nzewi

Michael is one of the founding partners of CardinalStone Partners Limited and is currently the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Before establishing CardinalStone Partners Limited, he served as a Director in the Global Markets division at the London offices of Standard Chartered Bank (SCB). Prior to joining SCB, Michael served as the pioneer Head of Corporate Finance at Vetiva Capital Management where he successfully executed several high-profile advisory and financing mandates for financial institutions and corporates in Nigeria. He also worked briefly in the Corporate Finance Division of Access Bank Plc. Michael began his banking career at Investment Banking & Trust Company Limited (Now Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc) and prior to that, qualified as a Chartered Accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Michael holds a B.Sc in Accounting from the University of Benin, and an MBA from Said Business School, Oxford University, UK. He is an associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.  Michael Nzewi has been on the board since inception of the firm.

Non-Executive Director

Wole Famurewa

Wole is Nigeria’s leading business news personality, he is an anchor and producer at CNBC Africa. He is the presenter of CNBC Africa’s daily markets preview programme Open Exchange West Africa (airs weekdays on CNBC Africa). He served as a Fellow responsible for Strategic Communications and Stakeholder Engagement at the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), Nigeria’s leading think-tank focused on advocacy and intervention for a more open and competitive business environment. He remains a technical anchor/secretary and played a leading role in the creation of the Finance, Financial Markets and Financial Inclusion Policy Commission of the NESG.

Wole has moderated numerous dialogues and events that featured African business and political leaders as well as many international speakers like the Nigeria Economic Summit, Forbes Person of the Year Award, All Africa Business Leaders Award; panel discussions at events organised by the Africa Development Bank and many others.  In 2011, he produced Eye on Nigeria’s Capital Market, a monthly programme dedicated to reviewing developments in Nigeria’s Capital Market. His reporting earned him the 2012 Citi Journalistic Excellence Award. In 2014 and 2016, he was selected as one of 3 judges to select the Citi Journalistic Excellence Award Winner for the year 2014.

Prior to joining CNBC and the NESG, Wole worked as the head of Investment Research at FSDH Securities, Lead Capital, Afrinvest and PHB Asset Management. He also had a brief stint as the head of investor relations at the former Bank PHB now Keystone Bank. Wole holds a B.Sc in Finance from the University of Lagos, Nigeria.

Managing Director

Elile Olutimayin

Elile, as she is simply called, is the MD/CEO of CardinalStone Securities Limited. Prior to this, she was the head of Equities Trading desk at CardinalStone where she was responsible for leading the Equities trading team. Prior to CardinalStone, Elile worked with Investment One Financial Services Limited (formerly known as GTB Asset Management Limited) and Kakawa Asset Management Limited. She has over a decade experience having worked in varying capacity and roles – Equities trading, Investment (Funds) Management, Credit Management and Sales.

Elile holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics & Economics from the University of Benin, Edo State and she is an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) and an Authorized Dealing Clerk of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Elile joined the board of CSS in 2016.

Company Secretary

Azizah Abiola

Azizah Abiola is the Head, Legal and Company Secretary of the CardinalStone Group. Prior to joining CardinalStone, Azizah was an Associate with the law firm Giwa – Osagie & Co. where she advised on commercial transactions and performed company secretarial functions for clients. Prior to that, she worked with the law firm, Prime Solicitors where she drafted processes and appeared in federal and state courts in respect of civil matters. Azizah has an LLB (Hons) Commercial Law degree from the University of West of England, Bristol and was admitted to the Nigerian Bar as Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Azizah joined the board in 2016.