260 to face prosecution as Nigerian capital market crisis deepens

By Eromo Egbejule
WorldNewsVine – Nigeria

Nigeria (Aug 11) – There is literally fire on the mountain as the Nigerian capital market regulator, the  Security and Exchange Commission, said yesterday that about 260 persons and organizations are to face charges over the crisis in Nigeria’s capital market, a week after the head of the Stock Exchange, Ndidi Okereke-Onyuike, was fired.

Director General of the SEC, Arunma Oteh, announced Tuesday while meeting with the House of Representatives members, that the commission has names of individuals and groups who will be brought before the Investment and Securities Tribunal, for various financial offences. “We have also been working very hard on some of the complaints that ordinary investors have shared with us as to some of the things that happen in our market,” she told the House committee on Capital Market, headed by Umar Jibril.

“As a result of that, we are going to take about 260 individuals and entities to the Investment and Securities Tribunal for different types of allegations of share price manipulation and insider dealings.” The Former Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Okereke-Onyuike and the former president of the Exchange, Aliko Dangote, were removed from office last week by the commission, at the climax of squabbles between the both parties.

They had accused each other of administrative and financial mismanagement. In a major move, the commission ordered independent investigations into the allegations, and appointed an interim administrator for the Exchange, in a process that has also helped emphasize its regulatory capacity, which has been missing in years.

The House committee summoned Mrs Oteh, Mrs Okereke-Onyuike and Mr Dangote yesterday in the aftermath of the sackings, holding hours of   meetings behind closed doors with Ms Oteh after the others failed to appear. They are appearing today.

Mr Jibril said the invitation was based on worries over media report on the removal, saying the lawmakers needed to act. Ms Oteh, however, said the
commission intervened to save the almost insolvent stock exchange and already fragile capital market that has already been hit by allegations of various malpractices, including insider trading and share prices manipulation.

Posted by Egbejule Eromo on August 11, 2010. Filed under Africa Regional News,Business - Africa,International Business News,International News,News - Africa,Nigeria,WorldNewsVine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.