Ezinwanne Ilodibe-Nnoruka

Driving Public Sector Transformation through Digital Innovation and Ethical Leadership.

“I had just transitioned from the private sector to the public sector, and it was challenging navigating my way. When I came across the AIG Public Leaders Programme, I instantly knew it was what I needed. The opportunity to build strong leadership capabilities while gaining access to a dynamic support network truly resonated with me.”- Ezinwanne Ilodibe-Nnoruka, Deputy Director and Board Secretary/General Counsel, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria

Ezinwanne Ilodibe-Nnoruka is a Deputy Director and the Board Secretary/General Counsel at the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria.  As the Board Secretary/General Counsel, she supervises the Legal, Compliance and Enforcement Department, and the Human Resources Department.

After transitioning from the private sector to public service, she encountered significant resistance to her reform initiatives. "I mulled over the idea of resigning because I felt utterly like an outsider particularly given that my drive for reforms met considerable resistance," she recalls. "It was obvious that I needed a new set of skills and approach to thrive and lead change effectively."  Then, she came across the AIG Public Leaders Programme and applied.

She affirms that the AIG PLP provided her with leadership capabilities, new perspectives to driving reforms, and a strong professional network.

“The opportunity of building strong leadership capabilities while gaining access to a dynamic support network truly resonated with me. The modules, especially the one on integrity, helped me better understand how to manage relationships without compromising my values or the quality of my work. The alumni association has also been a valuable resource. Today, when I’m assigned a complex task, sourcing relevant data or insights is no longer a challenge. All I do, is to simply reach out to fellow alumni for support.”

Speaking about her reform project, she tells the story of how technology help her to transform the Financial Reporting Council. Before her project, the council was mandated to manually process annual reports and financial statements from over 5,000 Public Interest Entities (PIEs), exposing the agency to operational inefficiencies and frequent loss of valuable financial data.

To close this gap, Ezinwanne implemented a comprehensive digital repository platform for electronic submission of financial statements. This technological innovation eliminated the challenges that came with manual data extraction and created seamless data sharing across government Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

“My capstone project addressed this gap by focusing on the automation of the filing process through the creation of a digital repository platform for the electronic submission of financial statements. The impact has been far-reaching,” she says.

Her project has transformed the agency's operations, improving transparency, efficiency, and collaboration. The success of her project also led to more efficient collaboration between the council and its partner companies, streamlining work processes and enhancing productivity.

As a result of her participation in the AIG PLP, she continues to work on initiatives that are impacting the public sector. She developed the agency’s first Whistleblowing Policy to encourage reporting of unethical conduct to promote integrity and transparency. The policy is currently awaiting formal approval for implementation. She also contributed to the update of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Amendment Act 2023, which modernized the original FRC Act, 2011 to align with current best practices in financial reporting and corporate governance.

Because of Ezinwanne's digital transformation project at the Financial Reporting Council, millions of Nigerians can now benefit from improved transparency and accountability in the management of public funds and resources.