Uche Usim, Abuja
The Federal Government on Monday finally inaugurated the reconstituted board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) , comprising nine members and headed by Mr Olufemi Dominic Lijadu. The inauguration is coming after the Commission has been without a board for four years, as the last one wound up in 2015 under the leadership of Mr Peter Obi.
Speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mr Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, said the new board signalled another milestone in our efforts to emphasise the importance of the capital market in economic growth and development through the mobilisation of long-term savings for investment as well as efficient pricing of financial instruments.
The part-time members of the board are Mr. Olufemi Dominic Lijadu, Chairman; Mr. Okokon Ekanem Udo, representative of the Federal
Ministry of Finance; Mrs. Angela Adewumi Sere-Ejembi – representative of the Central Bank of Nigeria; Mrs Faruk Lodi Rekiya and Mr. Lamido Abubakar Yuguda.
The full-time members are Mrs. Mary Joseph Uduk, who is the acting Director General; Mr. lsyaku Bala Tilde, Mr Reginald Karawusa, Mr. Henry Adekunle Rowlands.
Isa-Dutse stated: “Our capital market is growing and evolving. To sustain this growth and eventually transform to a world-class capital market, transparency and investor confidence is key. Investor confidence will accelerate the growth of our market and increase both domestic and foreign investor participation. Therefore, we must ensure that our market is transparent and listed companies imbibe good corporate governance and accountability. Like world-class capital markets, ours should be characterised by high levels of liquidity, depth, breadth and sophistication with a strong domestic investor base. It should be innovative, transparent due to robust disclosure regimes, and efficient both discovery and in the allocation of capital.