Jimoh Ibrahim
Business Executive
The Chief Executive Officer of Global Fleet Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited, Jimoh Ibrahim left politics for business after a lost bid for the Government House in Ondo State. Within a year, he has turned the company he founded few years ago into a household name in the country.
A very rich and astute businessman, his company has built over 140 petrol stations out of his target of 1000. He attended Community Grammar School, Igbotako, Ondo State and went to the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) before proceeding to Harvard Law School. At Ife, he obtained two degrees, Bachelors of Law and Masters in Public Administration and at Harvard he had a Masters degree in Economic Tax Law. He was a consultant to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on tax reforms in Croatia and Etonia. He was called to the bar in 1991. As a young boy, he had always dreamt of becoming famous and successful person but he also wanted to leave a legacy of a first class attendance to human development. This led him into politics. Jimoh Ibrahim socializes very well.Born February 24, 1967 to the family of Alhaji Yakubu and Omofemiwa Jimoh in Igbotako in Okitipupa, Ondo State, Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim’s story is what you could call grass to grace. His father who had seven wives and 40 children is a bricklayer and his mother a fish seller.He had his early education at Community Grammar School, Igbotako and from there to Federal School of Arts and Science, Ondo.. He has vast experience in tax administration, as well as in tax reform and financial management. At one time, he was appointed as the chief consultant to the Federal Government of Nigeria on petroleum tax payment, collection and monitoring. He was a member of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, and chairman, Special Committee of the same body.
Dr. Jimoh once consulted for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on tax reforms in Croatia and Lithuania; consultant to the Federal Government of Nigeria on Value Added Tax (VAT); a key member of the team that designed the tax reform for Republic of Bangladesh; and head of the Nigerian delegation to the United Nations’ Conference on Governance and Public Administration held in Hong-Kong in 1994. He was a Commonwealth of Nations’ delegate to the United Arab Emirate International Convention on Governance and Public Administration.
An astute, forward-looking and development-oriented politician, Dr. Ibrahim was a member of the Board of Trustees of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), its National Legal Adviser; member of its Finance Committee; member of its Publicity Committee, and Vice-Chairman, Presidential Inner caucus, as well as the party’s governorship candidate in Ondo State during the 2003 general elections. That was in the past. Today, he is a towering figure in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Dr. Ibrahim was a onetime executive secretary, African Centre for Policy Studies, a policy analysis and capacity building institution. He was the coordinator of and a key resource person at the First National Conference of Permanent Secretaries, as well as the first Annual Conference of Directors in Public Service. He was, until recently, the Chairman of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in Nigeria.
Dr. Ibrahim is an orator and a role model to the younger generation. For his contributions to the world of business and employment generation in Nigeria, leading Nigerian universities such as the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife and the Covenant University, Ota, have awarded him their prestigious honourary doctorate degrees. Nigeria, his dear country, also honoured him with the Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR).
For a distinguished Nigerian, who has touched so many lives, one can only say: Many happy returns and the very best for the future!
