Chinwendu Obienyi
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed a former director at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Yuguda, as the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The red chamber also confirmed Reginald Karausa, Ibrahim Boyi, and Obi Joseph as full-time Commissioners of SEC. These confirmations came on the back of the submission of the report of the Committee on Capital Markets which was presented before the Senate by its Chairman, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.
The committee recommends that the Senate confirm the four nominees as appointed by Mr President, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),” Mr Amosun said.
Upon Yuguda’s nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari in mid-May, some lawmakers had raised eyebrows.
In a petition filed by the senators from Akwa Ibom State, they requested that Mary Uduk, who had been acting as SEC DG since Mounir Gwarzo was suspended two years ago, be confirmed as the substantive head.
So, while the nominations were put to voice votes, Albert Akpan (PDP, Akwa Ibom) reminded his colleagues of the petition the Akwa Ibom caucus filed against the candidature of Mr Yuguda. But, Mr Amosun responded by saying the petition does not stop the work of his committee since they complained about being “short-changed.”
“That petition will not hinder our work. They complained about being short-changed,” he said.
For his part, Senate President Ahmad Lawan, said there was “no need for the Ethics Committee to present a report on the petition.” Senate President said, “the Security and Exchange Commission must be efficient and effective in ensuring that we are able to attract and sustain not only domestic investment but foreign direct investment. “People should bring their monies and feel safe with their investments here. This is essential to create the very enabling climate for investors to be attracted and retained here in the country.”
Reacting to the development, shareholders who spoke to Daily Sun, noted it was a step in the right direction after the Commission was without a full time management for two years.
National Coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN), Boniface Okezie, said, “The Commission has been without a substantive DG for two years now and we have continued to clamour for one and now that we are getting it done, I think it is a good step taken to direct the market in the right direction. The SEC currently needs repositioning having been divided and so a formidable force is needed to re-organise it to make people understand what the Commission stands for.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) says low yield environment caused by coronavirus pandemic has repositioned the nation’s securities market with domestic investors accounting for 60 per cent of market transactions.
Mr Oscar Onyema, NSE Chief Executive Officer, gave the submission on Wednesday at webinar organised by the Exchange with the theme: `Capital Markets in a Pandemic’.
Onyema said low yield environment had positioned the equities markets as a credible alternative for domestic institutional and retail investors.
He said that domestic investors had risen to the occasion in sustaining the market performance, and now accounts for about 60 per cent of trading activity.
“Surprisingly, domestic investors have risen to the occasion in sustaining the equities market performance. “This year, domestic investors now account for almost 60 per cent of trading activity compared to an average of 51 per cent in the past four years. “Despite these economic headwinds, the NSE All-Share Index has returned month on month gains of 8.1 per cent and 9.8 per cent at the end of April and May, respectively,” Onyema said.
He explained that the pandemic had resulted in a decline in oil export earnings – which accounts for over 80 per cent of Nigeria’s export earnings – and remittances by Nigerians in the Diaspora. “Concurrently, foreign portfolio investor flight to safety has further intensified pressures on the nation’s foreign reserves and exchange rate,” Onyema said.