These are the top 10 highest-paid CEOs in Nigeria in 2026, only one woman made the list

• Seplat’s Roger Brown topped the 2026 ranking with estimated remuneration of ₦3.90bn.

• MTN’s Karl Toriola and Aradel’s Adegbite Falade ranked second and third.

• Zenith Bank’s Adaora Umeoji was the only woman among the 10 CEOs.

• The ranking was published before Roger Brown retired as Seplat CEO in July 2026.

Nigeria’s biggest companies pay their chief executives some of the highest executive compensation in the country, with some of the figures running into billions of naira.

A 2026 ranking puts Seplat Energy’s Roger Thompson Brown at the top with estimated annual remuneration of ₦3.90 billion, followed by MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola with ₦3.14 billion.

Three executives on the ranking are estimated to earn more than ₦2 billion, while the 10th person on the list has an estimated remuneration of ₦471 million.

The list is also notable for its gender imbalance. Adaora Umeoji of Zenith Bank is the only woman among the 10 executives.

The figures are estimated annual remuneration and should not be read as basic salaries or as money already paid to the executives during 2026. Executive remuneration can include salary, bonuses, allowances and other compensation.

Here are the 10 executives on the ranking.

Roger Brown was ranked as the highest-paid CEO in Nigeria, with estimated annual remuneration of ₦3.90 billion.

The British executive joined Seplat Energy in 2013 as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director before becoming CEO in August 2020. He brought more than 25 years of financial-sector experience to the role, particularly in emerging markets, energy and infrastructure transactions.

During his time as CEO, Brown oversaw one of the most significant transactions in Seplat’s history — the company’s $1.28 billion acquisition of ExxonMobil’s Nigerian shallow-water business. The deal transformed Seplat into one of Nigeria’s largest domestic oil producers, expanding its asset base and production capacity.

However, there is an important update to the ranking. Seplat announced in June 2026 that Brown would retire and leave the board on 31 July after 13 years with the company, including six years as CEO. This means he was the company’s CEO when the May 2026 ranking was published, but he is no longer in that position.

Brown was reported by a Nigerian publication in June 2026 to have been born in February 1970, making him 56 at the time, although Seplat’s official profile does not state his date of birth.

Karl Toriola ranks second with estimated annual remuneration of ₦3.14 billion.

Toriola has spent much of his career within the MTN Group. He joined the company in 2006 and has held senior roles across its African operations, including CEO of MTN Cameroon and Chief Technology Officer of MTN Nigeria.

MTN appointed him CEO of its Nigerian business effective 1 March 2021, placing him at the helm of one of the country’s largest telecommunications companies. He has also served as MTN Group’s Vice President for Francophone Africa.

Toriola turned 54 in March 2026, according to ThisDay, which described him as being born in Ife-Modakeke.

His career has therefore combined technical telecommunications experience with senior executive roles across several MTN markets before he returned to lead the Nigerian operation.

Adegbite “Gbite” Falade ranks third, with estimated annual remuneration of ₦2.44 billion.

Falade is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Aradel Holdings, an integrated energy company with interests spanning oil, gas and power.

He studied Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the University of Ibadan, graduating with First Class honours, and later obtained an MBA from Warwick Business School. His professional background covers more than two decades in the energy industry.

Falade has been particularly prominent as Aradel has expanded its position in Nigeria’s energy sector. In 2024, the company reported significant growth in revenue, and Falade has continued to represent the company in discussions around Nigeria’s indigenous oil and gas industry.

Unlike some of the executives on this list who head companies with long-established consumer brands, Falade’s profile has largely been built around Nigeria’s rapidly expanding indigenous energy sector.

Jubril Adewale “Wale” Tinubu ranks fourth, with estimated annual remuneration of ₦1.80 billion.

Tinubu is the Group Chief Executive of Oando, one of Nigeria’s major indigenous energy companies.

A lawyer by training, he began his career in 1990 before co-founding Ocean and Oil in the 1990s. The company later became part of the Oando group, and under his leadership the business expanded through major acquisitions in Nigeria’s petroleum industry.

Oando’s growth included its acquisition of Unipetrol and later Agip Nigeria, helping transform the company from an oil-trading business into an integrated energy company.

Born on 26 June 1967, Tinubu is 59 in 2026. His long tenure makes him one of the most recognisable Nigerian executives in the oil and gas industry, having spent decades building Oando from its earlier roots into the company it is today.

RELATED: Four women now hold the biggest leadership positions in Nigeria's legal profession

Arvind Pathak ranks fifth with estimated annual remuneration of ₦1.58 billion.

Pathak became Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement effective 1 March 2023.

Before joining Dangote Cement, he had already built a long career in the Indian cement industry. He previously served as Managing Director and CEO of Birla Corporation and also held senior leadership positions at ACC and other cement businesses.

His appointment brought an executive with extensive cement-industry experience into one of Africa’s largest cement companies.

Dangote Cement operates across several African markets, and Pathak's role places him at the centre of one of the continent’s biggest manufacturing businesses.

Dr Samba Seye ranks sixth with estimated annual remuneration of ₦1.06 billion.

Seye is the Managing Director of TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria.

He is an engineer with a doctorate from the University of Sciences and Techniques of Lille in France. Before joining TotalEnergies, he worked as an assistant lecturer and later joined Shell in 1993, where he held various positions.

He joined Total Marketing and Services in 2014 as a project manager in the strategy department before moving through increasingly senior positions.

Seye was appointed Managing Director of Total Nigeria effective 1 September 2021, replacing Imrane Barry, who moved to TotalEnergies’ headquarters in Paris.

His career is notable for combining an engineering background with decades of experience across the oil and gas and energy-marketing industries.

Adaora Umeoji is the only woman among the 10 highest-paid CEOs on the 2026 ranking.

She ranks seventh, with estimated annual remuneration of ₦874 million.

Umeoji became Group Managing Director and CEO of Zenith Bank in June 2024, making her the first woman to hold the top executive position at the bank.

Her appointment came after more than two decades at Zenith Bank. She joined the bank in 1995 and later became Deputy Managing Director in 2016 before taking over as GMD/CEO.

Umeoji has academic qualifications in sociology, accounting, law and business administration and has completed executive programmes at institutions including Harvard Business School, Columbia Business School, MIT Sloan and Wharton.

She was born on 8 February 1974, making her 52 in 2026. Her position on the list is significant beyond the remuneration figure because she is the only woman to make the top 10, while the other nine positions are occupied by men.

RELATED: Nigeria has 3 billionaires in Forbes’ 2026 Africa top 10 and 4 on the overall list — meet them, their rankings and net worth

Wassim Elhusseini ranks eighth with estimated annual remuneration of ₦831 million.

The Lebanese executive has spent more than two decades with Nestlé. He joined Nestlé Kuwait in 2002 as a Channel Category Sales Development manager and subsequently held senior sales and business-development roles across the Middle East.

He became Sales Director of Nestlé Middle East in 2016 and later served as Country Manager and Sales Director. He was appointed to the board of Nestlé Nigeria and became Managing Director/CEO effective 1 September 2020.

Elhusseini has remained at the helm of Nestlé Nigeria through a period of significant pressure on consumer purchasing power and the wider Nigerian economy.

He continues to serve as Managing Director/CEO in the company's 2026 financial statements.

Adebayo Alli ranks ninth with estimated annual remuneration of ₦756 million.

Alli became Managing Director and CEO of Guinness Nigeria in January 2024, taking over from John Musunga, who moved to a Diageo Africa role.

His appointment brought an executive with experience in the consumer-goods sector to the helm of one of Nigeria’s best-known beverage companies.

Guinness Nigeria is part of Diageo, the global drinks company behind brands including Guinness, and Alli is responsible for leading its Nigerian operation.

His appearance in the ranking also reflects the significant compensation attached to leading large consumer-facing companies operating in Nigeria’s challenging business environment.

Segun Agbaje completes the ranking with estimated annual remuneration of ₦471 million.

Agbaje has one of the longest leadership tenures among the executives on the list. He became Managing Director and CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank in 2011 and later became Group Chief Executive Officer of GTCO following the creation of the holding company structure.

Under his leadership, GTCO has expanded beyond traditional commercial banking into areas including payments, funds management and pensions.

The group has also pursued international expansion. In 2025, GTCO became the first Nigerian financial-services company to pursue a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, while raising capital to strengthen its banking business.

Agbaje therefore represents the banking sector on the list alongside Adaora Umeoji, although his estimated remuneration is considerably lower than hers in the 2026 ranking.

The ranking highlights the huge sums attached to executive leadership at some of Nigeria’s largest companies, particularly in oil and gas, telecommunications, cement, banking and consumer goods.

It also shows how concentrated the highest remuneration is at the top: Roger Brown’s estimated ₦3.90 billion is more than eight times the ₦471 million attributed to the 10th-ranked Segun Agbaje.

But the list comes with an important qualification. It was published in May 2026 and is based on estimated remuneration. In Brown’s case, subsequent events have already changed his position: he retired as Seplat Energy CEO on 31 July 2026.

The ranking is therefore best understood as a snapshot of the executives and estimated compensation at the time it was compiled, rather than a definitive list of who currently holds each CEO position or exactly how much each executive will take home during the whole of 2026.