Nigerian billionaire Abdul Samad Rabiu’s son resigns as director of BUA Foods

Isyaku Naziru Rabiu, the son of Nigeria’s third-richest billionaire Abdul Samad Rabiu, has resigned from the board of directors of BUA Foods Plc, a recently consolidated Lagos-based food giant that went public earlier this year.

His resignation became effective on Aug. 17, according to a notification filed by the food group on the Nigerian Exchange.

His departure follows the bourse’s listing rules, which state that no more than two members of the same family may serve on the board of a publicly traded company at the same time.

BUA Foods is the unified food business segment of the Nigeria-based BUA Group. Its operations include BUA Sugar Refinery Limited, BUA Oil Mills Limited, IRS Flour, IRS Pasta, and BUA Rice Limited.

Since the food business was listed more than eight months ago, its market cap has climbed by more than $650 million, from N720 billion ($1.74 billion) on Jan. 5 when its shares were listed on the Nigerian Exchange, to N1 trillion ($2.38 billion) at the time of writing this piece.

Isyaku and his father, Abdul Samad Rabiu, who founded BUA Group, one of Africa’s fastest expanding manufacturing conglomerates, more than 33 years ago, own a 99.8-percent ownership in BUA Foods, which is now worth N998 billion ($2.37 billion) at the time of writing this report.

Earlier this year, Isyaku and his father earned a dividend of N62.9 billion ($151.6 million) from their stake in the newly integrated food business.