Furniture tycoon Ibukun Awosika steps down from Cadbury Nigeria board after 15-year run

Ibukun Awosika is stepping down from the board of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, closing out a tenure that has stretched more than 15 years at one of the country's most established consumer goods firms. The company confirmed her departure in a notice filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Wednesday, signed by company secretary Afolasade Olowe, with the resignation taking effect on May 1, 2026.

A career defined by Nigerian boardrooms

Awosika is widely recognized as the founder and chief executive officer of The Chair Centre Group, a furniture and security systems business she has built over decades into one of the most visible brands in the sector. She is also celebrated as the first female chairperson of First Bank of Nigeria Limited, a position that cemented her place at the top of corporate Nigeria. Her run on the Cadbury Nigeria board began in October 2009, where she most recently served as a non-executive director and chair of the governance and risk committee, providing strategic oversight as the company moved through some of the toughest macroeconomic cycles in its history.

The board used the filing to express deep appreciation for her contributions, signaling that her exit closes a chapter rather than ending the relationship. Her decade and a half of governance work coincided with significant transformation in the consumer goods space, where she helped steer the company through currency volatility, shifting consumer demand and a series of leadership transitions in the corner office.

A board in flux at a turnaround moment

Her departure lands at a delicate moment for Cadbury Nigeria. The company posted a profit before tax of 17.27 billion naira for the 2025 financial year, a 161 percent swing from the 28.33 billion naira loss it recorded a year earlier. Gross profit doubled to 36.60 billion naira over the same period, a sign that recent restructuring, including the conversion of a 7.7 million dollar inter-company loan into equity, is starting to feed through to the bottom line.

The board is currently chaired by Adedotun Sulaiman, with Folake Ogundipe serving as interim managing director. Recent appointments in March 2026 added economist Doyin Salami and Hisham Ezz El Arab as non-executive directors, replacing the outgoing Abhiroop Chuckarbutty. With Awosika's exit, the board loses one of its longest-serving voices at a moment when continuity has been a stabilizing force for investors.

The succession question

Cadbury Nigeria has not yet named a successor to fill the vacancy. The company said a replacement will be announced in due course as it pushes ahead with its current growth strategy. The selection will be watched closely by institutional investors, who have grown more attuned to governance shifts in the wake of the firm's stock price volatility and its broader turnaround narrative.

Awosika remains one of the most influential figures in African business, with continuing work through The Chair Centre Group, advisory boards and entrepreneurial initiatives across the continent. Her exit from Cadbury Nigeria does not slow that runway, but it closes one of the longest single board tenures in Nigerian consumer goods, ending a 15-year run that helped shape governance at the firm.