Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu, yesterday appointed Mr. Tunji Bello to become the new Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice-Chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (“FCCPC”), subject to review and a vote by the Senate, which is expected to pass without issue.

Observers are noting the relative lack of competition-law / antitrust experience of Mr. Bello (whose prior credentials include State Secretary and Environment Commissioner, both in Lagos State). Mr. Bello, a former journalist, is an unknown to most, if not all, competition-law practitioners. His Wikipedia entry describes him primarily in terms of his career as a journalist, which included international stints as “a Staff Writer with [the] St. Petersburg Times, Florida, US, and also [] US News & World Report, Washington DC in 1992.”

The formal press release (see below) seems to support this sentiment of a purely political appointment without any regard to prior competition-law or economics experience, as it appears to focus solely on “consumer protection” and the “safety of goods and services,” while failing to mention competition or antitrust even once.

We note that some commentators have pointed out, at the cynical end of the spectrum, that this appointment may be due to the FCCPC’s past successes in garnering massive fines (e.g., the $110 million fine imposed against BAT), under recently-dismissed predecessor Babatunde Irukera. Such financial windfalls for the government coffers have, these observers believe, turned the agency’s CEO job, into a highly coveted executive post, which had been temporarily held in an interim capacity by Dr. Adamu Abdullahi between January and Mr. Bello’s appointment yesterday.

AAT is hopeful that this is not the case, and that Mr. Bello will not turn the young and so-far highly-regarded FCCPC into a mere means to an end of generating revenue for the Nigerian government. We trust that the Commission will continue to uphold its mandate of competition-law enforcement and its high standard of excellence, thanks in large part to the leadership of Mr. Bello’s predecessor and the quality of the senior team members he had assembled to run the agency.

Press release:

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr. Olatunji Bello as the new Chief Executive Officer/Executive Vice-Chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), pending confirmation by the Senate.

Mr. Bello is a lawyer, administrator, and renowned journalist.

He is the former secretary to the Lagos State Government and holds a Master’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos. He studied Law at the same university and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2002.

Mr. Bello began his career in journalism at the Concord Newspapers in 1985 and held the positions of Group Political Editor; Sunday Concord Editor, and Editor, National Concord.

He is a winner of the US Alfred Friendly Press Fellowship and was appointed the Chairman, Editorial Board of THISDAY Newspapers in 2001.

He also served as Commissioner for Environment under various administrations in Lagos State.

The President expects that the new Chief Executive Officer of this important agency will ensure the holistic realization of the Commission’s mandate of protecting and promoting the interest and welfare of Nigerian consumers, and ensuring the adoption of measures to guarantee the safety and quality of goods and services.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

June 24, 2024