CRC Management Team

Dr Ahmed Babatunde Popoola (Dr ‘Tunde Popoola) is a Nigerian Banker, Accountant, Economist, Entrepreneur and Business Executive. He is the Group Managing Director/CEO. He has over thirty years cumulative work experience spanning the public and the private sectors of the Nigerian economy. He has been the Managing Director/CEO of CRC Credit Bureau Limited since its establishment in 2008. Prior to this, he was also the pioneer CEO of the Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA). Before then, he was in the banking industry where he rose to the position of the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) and General Manager of a publicly listed bank. He is in the forefront of the development of the nascent credit reporting system in Nigeria and Africa. Dr, Popoola holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria, two master’s degrees in Banking & Finance and Economics from the University of Lagos, Nigeria and a PhD in Finance from WITS Business School, University of The Witwatersrand, South Africa. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Lagos Business School (LBS)’s Senior Management Programme (SMP 12) and the Wharton Business School’s Advanced Management Programme (AMP 67). He has also attended executive education programmes at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard Business School, the International Management and Development (IMD), Switzerland and the Kellogg School of Management. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and seven other professional bodies. He holds several awards and recognitions especially for his role in entrepreneurship, business management, finance, and youth empowerment. He is also a proud recipient of a special Ministerial recognition and commendation for his innovation and promotion of youth enterprise in the FCT.

Jelilat Kareem is the Group Chief Operating Officer at CRC Credit Bureau Limited where she oversees the Finance, Enterprise-Wide Services, Operations, and Technology of the Group, driving global best practices in operations. Prior to this appointment, she was the Head of Finance and Corporate Services of the organization. She is also a Non-Executive Director of the newly established subsidiary, CRC Data & Analytics Limited. Jelilat holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile – Ife, Nigeria, and a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Lagos. She is a Fellow of the Association of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) United Kingdom, and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). She is also a registered finance professional at the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC). She has attended various programs including the Advanced Financial Modeling program at FSMD UK, the Senior Management Program of the Lagos Business School (LBS) and executive education at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania, United States. Jelilat Kareem has over 24 years of vast and vital experience in start-up management, accounting and finance, treasury management, credit & risk management, strategy, human resources management, governance & corporate services including systems/policy formulation and analysis. Her experience and leadership have been focused on developing and delivering financial-driven business services and solutions, providing outstanding client service, and driving profitable revenue growth.

Ezekiel is the Group Head, Audit, Control & Risk Management of CRC Credit Bureau Limited. Prior to this, he was the Head, Audit Risk & Compliance of the bureau business. Ezekiel is responsible for developing and implementing an effective internal audit function that provides independent, objective, assurance and consulting services designed to add value and improve internal operations. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Benin and master’s in business administration with specialization in Finance from the Manchester Business School; He is a member of the Information System Audit and Control Association; He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and trained with Deloitte & Touche. Ezekiel has over twenty-seven (27) years of experience providing a wide range of services to various organizations in the areas of internal control and risk management, financial audit, and advisory services. He has gained vast and vital experience in all aspects of special investigation assignments (including fraud and management performance assessment, conduct of due diligence work for merger and acquisition), and advisory services (such as review, design and implementation of control processes and procedures).

Ademola led the team that set up CRC Credit Bureau Limited’s infrastructure/solution in 2008; He was also charged with the responsibility of ensuring that the company obtained the bureau operating certification/license from the Central Bank of Nigeria at inception; He is currently the Head of the CRC Data Analytics Team. Ademola is responsible for providing institutions the means of using data analytics and artificial intelligence to make informed decisions. His experience spans over 29 years in the field of Consulting (Strategy and Business Process Design), Technology (Design, Implementation & Management), Financial Auditing, Business Development and General Management working for the following organizations: PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC), TELNET, Accenture, HEIRS Technologies & Systems Limited, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc and CRC Credit Bureau Limited. Part of his work experience was in the Oil & Gas industry where he spent about three and a half years working (on contract from TELNET) for Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited and Chevron Nigeria Limited providing technology support services. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering (Second Class Upper Division) from the University of Lagos (in 1992) and a master’s in business administration with specialization in management from Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) (in 2000). He is an alumnus of the Lagos Business School (LBS) following the completion of the Advanced Management Program (AMP) in 2015 and attended a leadership program at Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University) in November 2019. He obtained a Credit and Credit Risk Analysis Professional Certificate from New York Institute of Finance (NWIF) in September 2020 and completed an “Executive Data Science” specialization course organized by John Hopkins University in October 2020. He has a certification in Information Technology Service Management (ITSM). He is a Project Management Professional (PMP) a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI) Lagos Chapter.