Executive Director, Technology & CTO · AI & Payments Infrastructure · Lagos

I lead the technology money and power run on.

My teams built the Treasury Single Account platform that brought more than 20,000 federal government bank accounts into one, the payments platform that processed over ₦100 trillion in 2025, and smart metering systems connecting more than 300,000 meters. I also sit on a working group for the Central Bank's Payments System Vision 2028, helping decide where Nigeria's payments go next.

I now lead the team putting AI to work across these platforms, starting with fraud and risk.

Mujib Ishola in a dark suit, arms folded
300,000+smart meters connected
20,000+government bank accounts consolidated into the TSA
900+government agencies on the TSA
16 yrsbuilding national payments infrastructure

AI

AI at work in a national payments platform

I lead the team that put AI into production across our platform. In a regulated business that moves this much money, it has to be secure, auditable and correct. It also has to be understood: at Nigeria Fintech Week 2024 I argued that leaning on black-box AI could shut Africa out of its benefits.

Fraud and risk

Machine learning and behavioural analytics score transactions as they happen and flag fraud and risk early.

Rollout

We took AI from pilots into everyday use, with the data and cloud infrastructure to run it reliably.

Governance

Security, audit trails and human review are built in, so we can explain any AI decision to a regulator or a customer.

Products

Payment services that AI assistants and agents can call directly.

Industry leadership

Beyond my own platforms

I also work on the rules and standards the rest of the industry builds on.

Policy

Payments System Vision 2028

I sit on a working group for the Central Bank of Nigeria's roadmap for the country's payments system.

Open banking

Open banking

My teams were building open banking APIs and account-to-account systems years before the regulation arrived. I now speak and write about secure data sharing.

Digital currency

eNaira, CBDCs and stablecoins

I was part of the team that designed and commercialised an eNaira rail for payment and acceptance. I've also given a keynote on stablecoins, and I'm a certified blockchain engineer.

Standards

ISO 20022 and security standards

I specialise in ISO 20022, the global messaging standard for payments, and build to PCI DSS, ISO 27001 and the Central Bank's cybersecurity rules.

Expertise

What I bring to an enterprise

Enterprise architecture & delivery

National platforms designed and delivered end to end, from the TSA to account-to-account switching, by teams spread across several countries.

Cloud & infrastructure design

Infrastructure for platforms that can't go down. Kubernetes, AWS and Huawei Cloud.

Payments & open banking

Collections, account-to-account switching, settlement, and secure APIs between banks, fintechs and large organisations.

Cybersecurity

Both sides of security. On defence, security architecture, monitoring and incident response. On offence, penetration testing and red-team exercises that find weaknesses before attackers do.

Utility & metering systems

Unified vending and advanced metering (AMI and AMR) for electricity distributors.

Digital currency & blockchain

Central bank digital currencies, stablecoins and distributed-ledger design.

Standards I build to

  • ISO 20022
  • ISO 8583
  • PCI DSS
  • ISO/IEC 27001
  • EMV
  • OAuth 2.0 & OpenID Connect
  • NIST Cybersecurity Framework
  • STS (IEC 62055)
  • DLMS/COSEM

Sectors

  • Payments & fintech
  • Government & public finance
  • Power & utilities
  • Retail & eCommerce
  • Gaming

Selected work

Enterprise systems my teams have delivered

Government · National scale

Treasury Single Account platform

TSA gateway, 2012 to 2025

Challenge

Bring government revenues and payments from many separate bank accounts into one view, so the treasury can see and control public money.

What I did

Led enterprise architecture and delivery for the platform, connecting every bank and other financial institution (OFI) in Nigeria to the treasury. It drove federal government payments and collections across ministries, departments and agencies for over a decade.

Result

Full rollout in September 2015. By February 2017, more than 20,000 bank accounts were closed, ₦5.24 trillion was consolidated and over 900 agencies were on board.

Switching · First of its kind

Nigeria's first account-to-account switch

National payments infrastructure

Challenge

Let money move directly between bank accounts, without cards or cash in the middle.

What I did

Led enterprise architecture and delivery for the switch and the open banking APIs around it, connecting banks and businesses directly.

Result

Businesses and government could pay bank to bank. The same APIs later became the base for open banking.

Payments · National scale

A payment platform for an economy

2011 to today

Challenge

Move money reliably for millions of people, businesses and institutions across many sectors of the Nigerian economy.

What I did

Led enterprise architecture and delivery while rising from technical architect to CTO, and grew the engineering team that runs the platform.

Result

Over ₦100 trillion processed in 2025, across more than 15,000 products and services.

Power · AMI / AMR

Smart metering for the power sector

Technology Consultant, MOJEC · PowerGenie live by 2018

Challenge

Help electricity distributors read meters remotely, sell power through one vending system and collect revenue reliably.

What I did

As technology consultant to MOJEC, led architecture and delivery of PowerGenie, MOJEC's unified vending platform issuing STS tokens, and the advanced metering infrastructure behind it. It reads consumption and losses remotely and disconnects tampered meters.

Result

More than 300,000 meters connected. By 2022, PowerGenie was running across more than 25 estates, institutions, hotels and off-grid projects.

CBDC · eNaira

An eNaira rail for payment and acceptance

Live July 2022

Challenge

Make Nigeria's central bank digital currency usable for everyday bills, business payments and payments to government.

What I did

Part of the team that designed the eNaira payment and acceptance rail and took it to market.

Result

eNaira became a payment option on web, mobile and the payment gateway, for utilities, exam fees and federal, state and local government payments, and merchants and fintechs could accept it.

Retail · UK

Commerce platforms for global retailers

Javelin Group · 2007 to 2010

Challenge

Build eCommerce and retail systems for major brands, including Walmart, Tesco and Sony.

What I did

Senior Java/J2EE developer at a specialist retail consultancy, leading in-house and nearshore development teams.

Result

I learned how the biggest retailers run technology, and I brought that back to Nigeria.

AI · Fraud & risk

AI for fraud, risk and new products

Ongoing

Challenge

Bring AI safely into a regulated, high-volume payments business, and fight fraud without slowing honest customers.

What I did

Led the team that brought AI into production, starting with machine learning and behavioural analytics for fraud and risk.

Result

Suspicious transactions are flagged as they happen, across the whole platform.

Career

From developer to technology leader

I studied and started my career in the UK, then came home in 2011 to build payment systems.

  1. 2004

    Research Programmer

    Middlesex University · May 2004 – Aug 2004

    Built a “Microworld” ambulance dispatch framework in Java and XML.

  2. 2006

    Java Analyst Developer

    Evolution Systems Ltd, Bedford · Apr 2006 – Feb 2007

    Designed and built a gaming agent system for the Asian market, and a white-label application on the EVOLVE core system.

  3. 2007

    Software Development Engineer

    Project Centre Limited · Feb 2007 – Jun 2007

    Designed and built the project management and CRM system, and engineering tools including a bus prediction tool.

  4. 2007

    Senior Java/J2EE Developer

    Javelin Group, United Kingdom · Jun 2007 – Dec 2010

    Built retail and eCommerce systems for clients including Walmart, Tesco and Sony, leading in-house and nearshore development teams.

  5. 2011

    Technical Architect

    SystemSpecs · Feb 2011 – Jun 2013

    Deployed Remita as the CBN e-payment application, and led architecture of the Treasury Single Account gateway, connecting every bank and OFI to the treasury.

  6. 2013

    Head Systems Integration

    SystemSpecs · Jun 2013 – Mar 2019

    Led the mobile, USSD, DevOps, architecture and system integration teams, and the move to container-based infrastructure. The TSA went fully live in September 2015.

  7. 2018

    Technology Consultant

    MOJEC · 2018

    MOJEC's PowerGenie vending and AMI went live, and later grew past 300,000 meters.

  8. 2019

    Head, Payments Technology & Infrastructure

    SystemSpecs · Mar 2019 – Aug 2022

    Ran the payment systems and the infrastructure under them, and was part of the team that designed and commercialised an eNaira rail, live in July 2022.

  9. 2022

    Chief Technology Officer

    Remita Payment Services Ltd · Jan 2022 – Jul 2023

    Responsible for technology across Remita Payment Services Limited, a subsidiary of SystemSpecs Holding.

  10. 2023

    Executive Director, Technology & CTO

    Remita Payment Services Ltd · Jul 2023 – present

    I lead technology strategy and engineering. In 2025 I joined a working group on the CBN's Payments System Vision 2028, and I'm completing a USAII AI certification.

Work with me

Three ways I work with organisations

Leadership roles

Executive and board roles

For organisations looking for a CTO or board member who has run national payment infrastructure.

Start a conversation →

Advisory

Consulting for enterprises and fintechs

  • AI adoption in regulated businesses
  • Payments and government collections
  • Cloud and infrastructure design
  • Security architecture and testing
  • Building and leading engineering teams
Book an intro call →

Speaking

Keynotes, panels and interviews

On payments in Africa, AI, open banking and leading engineering teams.

See past talks →

How I lead

E dey work?

Most decisions get easier with one question. Does it work? Asking it keeps teams focused on results, and it makes everyone own their solutions.

Ownership

Test every idea against the result, and let the person who built it own it.

Read the article →

Diligence

In payments, careful work is what earns trust.

Read the article →

Quality

Payments and power leave no room for "almost right". Quality is everyone's job.

Remote teams

I lead engineering teams spread across several countries and time zones. Members of my team have won Culture Champion awards.

Credentials

Education and certifications

Certified

Certified Blockchain Engineer

Professional certification.

In progress

USAII AI certification

United States Artificial Intelligence Institute.

Education

Middlesex University, UK

And North East Surrey College of Technology.

Contact

Let's connect

For roles, advisory work, speaking or media, email me.

  • AI in financial services
  • Payments in Africa
  • Open banking
  • ISO 20022
  • Fraud and risk
  • Cybersecurity
  • CBDCs and digital currency
  • Engineering leadership