Photo Caption: Mrs. Favour Femi-Oyewole, Chief Information Security Officer, The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE); Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer, NSE; Robert Petri, Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria; Mrs. Marijke Petri – his wife; Michel Deelen, Deputy Ambassador/Head of Lagos Representation Office; and Ms. Sonia Fajusigbe, Adviser Economic, Trade & investment Affairs, The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Lagos Office during a Closing Gong Ceremony at the Exchange today in Lagos on Thursday, February 22, 2018.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and The Convention on Business Integrity (CBi) honoured 35 companies and 437 directors that were awarded the CGRS certification and certificates respectively for successfully crossing the 70% threshold in the Corporate Governance Rating System (CGRS) process in the Fiduciary
Awareness Certification Test (FACT), a key component of the CGRS.
Vice-President of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo who was represented by Ambassador Chiedu Osakwe, the Nigerian Chief Trade Negotiator/Director General Office of Trade Negotiation, delivered the closing remarks at the event.
Speaking earlier, Soji Apampa, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CBi said “this is a triumph for collective action in the fight against corruption and unethical practices. I congratulate the companies and directors being honoured today and I urge them not to relent in their efforts to sustain the high level of corporate governance that has brought them thus far. Today’s celebration is not a destination but a continuous process that should be consistently maintained and further improved upon. I encourage other listed companies still on this evolutionary process to keep at it and conclude the process during this new review period which is now open.”
Another highlight of the event was the launch of the NSE’s Corporate Governance Index to track the performance of the 35 CGRS rated companies using their market capitalization, free float and corporate governance rating scores.
The Index will be reviewed on a bi-annual basis at which point other companies that have become CGRS rated in the interim may be added, just as companies that have had their ratings suspended or withdrawn may be removed.
The Index is expected to be an important tool for investors keen on investing in well governed companies as well as corporates eager to distinguish themselves on the ground of governance.
Speaking on the newly introduced Index, the NSE’s chief executive, Oscar Onyema, believes “the CG Index is an important milestone to strengthening listed companies by tracking their corporate governance practices. This index will increase transparency in our market and provide investors additional data points upon which to make sound decisions. I congratulate the companies that have successfully completed the process and I expect that they will be more positively looked at whilst trying to raise and access capital within or outside of our jurisdiction.”
The CGRS was launched on November 3, 2014 after a successful pilot phase involving a number of companies listed on the NSE some of which are now listed on the Premium Board and designed to rate listed companies based on their corporate governance and anti-corruption culture.
The process comprises three segments: an independently verified, self-assessment by the company; a certification of director awareness of their fiduciary duties; and, a corporate integrity assessment where feedback on actual company behaviour is sought from internal and external stakeholders. Combinations of the three segments with attendant weighted scores are collated and companies with a score of 70% and above accorded the CGRS certification celebrating the degree to which they have evolved the quality of their corporate governance.