Wale Akinterinwa : A Technocrat With Transformative Instincts

Wale Akinterinwa : A Technocrat With Transformative Instincts

Femi Adeniyi writes from Akure

A super star as they say needs no introduction in any social gathering. As far financial technocracy and Ondo State politics are concerned,
Adewale Olumuyiwa Akinterinwa needs no introduction. He is an accountant of repute, financial expert and grassroots mobilizer.

Wale Akinterinwa, as the Ondo State Commissioner for Finance is popularly known, has shown uncommon brilliance and also demonstrated professional skills in the core fields of Accounting and Finance. in addition to the professional wizardry of Akinterinwa, he also proven himself as a leader that is robustly imbued with enticing leadership attributes.

The Ile-Oluji born Akinterinwa has evidently proven himself as an outstanding manager of men, materials and resources. He has over the years, consistently churned out outstanding performances in both private and public sectors assignments given to him. He was appointed as Ondo State Commissioner for Finance in 2009; notwithstanding his brief stay in office, Wale promptly convinced everyone of outstanding professional acumen.

Despite his eight months stay in office as Finance Commissioner during the era of Dr Olusegun Mimiko, the financial strategist was able to ingeniously increase the Internally Generated Revenue IGR) of Ondo State substantially. The highly prudent Accountant was able to manage the finance of Ondo State in such a manner that he left several billions of naira in the state government coffers after his voluntary resignation as the state’s Commissioner for Finance.

More so, the alumnus of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife was again appointed as Finance Commissioner by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in 2017. He was yet again reappointed to the same position in 2022 by same Governor Akeredolu after winning another term of office.

Meanwhile, Akinterinwa was able to hit the ground running immediately he got reappointed as Finance Commissioner. He has thus far been able to identify avenues of revenue leakages in Ondo and has since put a stop to the practice of diverting government funds to private pockets. He has also been working assiduously to ensure that the administration of Akeredolu meet all its financial obligations as and when due.

Also, it is to the credit of Wale Akinterinwa as Finance Commissioner of Ondo State that
the state government has been able to cleverly restructure its Development Bond in a bid to ease funds for governance and developmental projects. Likewise, the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Ondo State continued to increase significantly under the watch of Akinterinwa.

In the same vein, the visionary financial expert has also come up with the idea of start-ups in Ondo State. These ventures have since grown to become competitively viable under the guardianship of Akinterinwa. In addition, he has also made immense contribution to the restructuring and repositioning of government parastatal which has now turn out to become quite productive, profitable efficient and self-reliant.

Another great side of Wale Akinterinwa is his ability to effect restructuring and reorganization of government agencies. He creditably exhibited this attribute when he successfully repositioned Lagos State Property Development Corporation (LSPDC) for improved performance. During the administration of Bola Tinubu as Lagos Governor, LSPDC, as an entity delivered several housing estates across the Centre of Excellence following the effective repositioning emplaced by Wale Akinterinwa. The entity also ensured that all housing estates in Lagos were well managed
to a level of profitability.

Akinterinwa delved into partisan politics in 2003 when the contested the House of Representatives seat for Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo/Odigbo Federal Constituency of Ondo State on the platform of Alliance for Democracy. He was also the governorship aspirant of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2012.

The MBA holder from Obafemi Awolowo University has spent a good portion of his career working in Finance industry of Nigeria. Akinterinwa began his career at the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc where he had his mandatory one NYSC program. Wale also worked as an Assistant Accountant at Afro Continental Nigeria Limited. Akinterinwa later joined Triumph Merchant Bank Plc and rose to the position of Head of Treasury and Financial Services before he exited the organization.

The risk management expert
also worked from 1999 to 2002 as a Special Assistant Finance, Investment and Strategy at the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation. He later moved to Gideon Trust Investment Limited where he served as Executive Vice Chairman/CEO. He equally served as the Chairman of Gideon Trust Micro Finance Bank Limited. He subsequently worked as a non-Executive Director/Board Member of Emergent Power and Energy Development Co. Limited.

The 60-year-old Ile-Oluji born Akinterinwa is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and also a Fellow of
Certified Public Administrators
of England. He is likewise a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Administrator of Nigeria and likewise a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria as well a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Loan & Risk Management of Nigeria.

The financial strategist had attended various courses both at home and abroad in Banking, Finance, Leadership, Management and Strategic Planning. He has been serving as a member of Ondo State Advisory Council Committee from 2020 till date. He is also the Chairman of Commissioners of Finance Forum. He is likewise a member of the Governing Council of Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, Ondo State.

Wale Akinterinwa is member of Ondo State Interim Committee for Ondo State Football Development Agency and a member of Ondo State Steering Committee on Open Government Partnership (OGP). He is the Patron of Ondo South Advancement & Welfare Consultative Association (OSAWA).

Wale has won several awards some of which include Award of Excellence by the National Association of Nigeria Student and
Award of Excellence by the Yoruba Youth Assembly . He is also a member of many clubs and societies including the prestigious Ikoyi club 1938.

Wale is happily married to Mrs. Oluremi Akinterinwa and the marriage is blessed with responsible children.
He unwinds by reading, travelling and watching football. He also loves discussing politics and collecting artworks in addition to playing golf and farming.