Lamido Yuguda, the newly appointed Director-General of Nigeria’s Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), on Wednesday in Abuja appeared before the Senate Committee on Capital Markets, along with the executive commissioner-nominees for screening, with a pledge to partner stakeholders for the growth and development of the nation’s capital market.
Yuguda, who was nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari, a fortnight ago, as the new SEC DG, replaces Mounir Gwarzo, who was suspended from office on December 6, 2017 and replaced Dr. Abdul Zubair in acting capacity. Zubair was himself replaced on April 19, 2018, by Ms. Mary Uduk, who served out the term of Gwarzo, before the nomination of Yuguda, on May 23, 2020.
The SEC DG-nominee, according to a statement by Efe Ebelo, head, Corporate Communications at the commission, was accompanied to the Senate chamber for screening by Temidayo Obisan, Reginald Karawusa and Ibrahim Boyi, full-time commissioner-nominees.
He assured of the determination by the nominees to ensure that the Nigerian capital market realises its full Potentials, working with operators and other stakeholders to ensure a robust regulation of the capital market.
Investor protection, he stressed, would be at the heart of the various initiatives of the new management, warning that any operator that short-changes investors would not go unpunished.
“We want to assure investors that this market is for them, and we are ready to do everything to ensure that we increase investor enlightenment through education, robust regulation and fair dealing.
“For those that want to defraud investors, there would be no respite because we are ready to fight market manipulation to the last, anyone that flouts our rules will be made to face the consequences of their actions,” he stressed further.
The incoming SEC boss commended the capital market committee for its efforts at revamping the capital market, pledging his management’s readiness “to work with this committee to ensure that the capital market is a pride to this country.”
Speaking earlier, the committee chairman, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, described the Nigerian capital market as a very critical tool capable of rescuing the nation’s economy from the brink of recession in the face of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The capital market, he said, had the depth to revamp the nation’s decayed infrastructure, adding that there was no better time than now for the federal and state governments to leverage opportunities provided by the capital market for sourcing infrastructure financing.
“We now know what the capital market can do to rescue the economy at a time like this. Shares are tumbling, but we hope it won’t last long, however, we also have to look inward and explore ways of diversifying our economy away from crude oil.
“If we have to diversify our economy, the capital market has a role to play and that is why we are here to support you.
“And that is why we have suspended everything else to go on with this screening. We will support the capital market for our country to realise these economic goals,” he stated.
The committee chairman commended stakeholders in the market for their efforts so far, adding that there was room for improvement in efforts to restore the nation’s economy to the right path.
He assured that the National Assembly was ready to assist with enabling legislation that would provide the right environment for the capital market to thrive.
“But there is room for improvement to get our economy to where we want it to be. We need to have the enabling laws in place to create an enabling environment for the market to thrive and the national assembly is ready to assist in that regard,” he added.
Photo caption: Incoming Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Lamido Yuguda (2nd right), in a chat with incoming Executive Commissioners, , Temidayo Obisan (left), Reginald Karawusa (2nd left), and Ibrahim Boyi (right); during the screening of executive executive management nominees of the commission in Abuja on Wednesday.
