Rakiya Shuaibu Mohammed, FCA, FNCS, CISA, FIMC, CCISO was appointed to the Board of Directors of First Bank of Nigeria Limited as an Independent Non-Executive Director on 26 June 2026. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Digibit Solutions Limited, a digital infrastructure firm that partners with governments and major enterprises across Africa and the Gulf region to deploy secure digital infrastructure, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity frameworks.
Prior to this appointment, she served as Director, Information Technology Department at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), where she spearheaded the Bank’s modernisation agenda and oversaw its enterprise technology operations. She previously served as Head of Strategy, Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Galaxy Backbone Plc. Earlier in her career, she served as Chief Information Officer and Head of Operations at Premium Pension Limited, and Deputy General Manager (IT) and Chief Information Officer at Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL).
With a career spanning the public and private sectors, Rakiya brings to the Board of FirstBank extensive experience in digital transformation, technology strategy, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure. During her tenure at the Central Bank of Nigeria, she led the implementation of Africa’s first Central Bank Digital Currency (eNaira), established the Nigerian Financial Industry Computer Emergency Response Team (NFICERT), and designed enterprise-wide cybersecurity and technology architecture frameworks.
She holds a First-Class Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University and a Master of Science degree in Information Systems Engineering from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST). She has also completed executive education programmes at Harvard University, the University of Oxford and the Kellogg School of Management.
She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Fellow of the Nigerian Computer Society (NCS), Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC), Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Member of the Institute of Directors (IoD) Nigeria, and Member of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).
Rakiya has a keen interest in technology policy, digital public infrastructure, AI governance and leadership development. She enjoys reading, international travel and exploring emerging technology ecosystems and public sector innovations around the world.
