Jubilation erupted among staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday as President Bola Tinubu wielded the big stick by sacking the Director-General, Lamido Yuguda, and announced a new Board for the capital markets regulator.
In a statement by presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, Tinubu approved the reconstitution of the SEC Board, appointing Emomotimi Agama as the new Director-General of SEC.
The new SEC board comprises:
1) Mr. Mairiga Aliyu Katuka – Chairman
2) Mr. Emomotimi Agama – Director-General
3) Frana Chukwuogor – Executive Commissioner (Legal and Enforcement)
4) Mr. Bola Ajomale – Executive Commissioner (Operations)
5) Mrs. Samiya Hassan Usman – Executive Commissioner (Corporate Services)
6) Mr. Lekan Belo – Non-Executive Commissioner
7) Mr. Kasimu Garba Kurfi – Non-Executive Commissioner
Tinubu expressed confidence that the new Board members will leverage their experience to advance SEC’s mandate of developing and regulating a dynamic, fair, transparent and efficient capital market to boost investor confidence and drive economic development.
SEC staff members who spoke to NewsNGR on condition of anonymity on Friday expressed excitement over the new leadership, stating they had yearned for change at the top amid alleged inefficiencies.
The shakeup at SEC comes barely a week after NewsNGR reported that a coalition of civil society groups, the Capital Market Integrity, Transparency and Good Governance Group, wrote to Tinubu demanding an overhaul of the Commission’s management over alleged poor performance of the capital market.
In the letter to President Tinubu, the group claimed there were unnecessary delays in SEC approving applications, registration, claims and other routine processes, which had cost capital market operators millions of naira in losses.
They also alleged that unclaimed dividends had not been approved for payment from the investor protection fund for three years.
The letter reads, “In the course of our investigative work, we engaged several key stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market.
“Stakeholders in the capital market informed us that the Management of the Securities and Exchange Commission always delay in approving their applications in respect of shares, bonds, registration of capital market operators, schemes of arrangement etc. even on routine requests such as documents and staff claims last for months on his table before approval.
“For instance, our checks with the Commission revealed that staff payments – such as service award – has been on his desk since January 15, 2024 without approval.
“The stakeholders strongly voiced their dissatisfaction with the performance of the management of the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the stakeholders, the unnecessary delays on the part of the management of the Securities and Exchange Commission has cost them millions of Naira which they cannot recover and above all, this kind of disposition is a violation of Executive order 8 of Presidency on Ease of Doing Business lunched in 2019.”