Four Years After, Nigeria’s SEC Fails To Publish Its Annual Report

…Account Last Seen 2013 

By Chinyere Aruogu

Who will regulate the regulator? That seems to be the question most stakeholders are wont to ask as the Mounir H. Gwarzo-led team at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Nigeria has failed to adhere to the Corporate Governance rules with regard to annual reports and accounts.

While companies are mandated to publish their annual report and frequently get sanctioned for failing to do so, the SEC itself  has reneged on publishing its annual report and accounts in keeping to the rules on Corporate Governance.

Armadanews.com can disclose that the last time SEC published its annual report and account was in 2013, the soft copy of which could be seen on its official website.

The implication is that SEC only succeeded in keeping Nigerians and investors in the dark on its annual report and financial accounts for the past four years.

SEC annual report and account is meant to show among others, its operational activities, report on legal and enforcement activities, and annual accounts.

The account was signed by its past chairman, Suleyman .A. Ndanusa and Arunma Oteh, the then Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission who later joined the World Bank as Vice President and Treasurer.

With a mission to develop and regulate a capital market that is dynamic, fair, transparent and efficient to contribute to the nation’s economic development, SEC Nigeria claims itself Core Values are: Transparency, Integrity, Pro-activeness, Fairness, Excellence, Accountability, and Teamwork.

The Securities and Exchange Commission was established in 1979 as a government agency to regulate and develop the Nigerian capital market.

It derives its mandate from the Investments and Securities Act (ISA), No. 29, 2007. The Commission is the apex regulatory body of the Nigerian Capital Market, responsible for the regulation and development of the market and seeks to protect the rights and benefits of investors with the purpose of ensuring an efficient and widespread participation by the public in the securities market.

Its responsibilities include registration of securities offered to the public by corporate entities, collective investment schemes and the government i.e. public issue, private placement, rights issue, as well as the regulation of market intermediaries, mergers, acquisitions, takeovers and all forms of business combinations.

The Commission’s objectives include: ensuring the existence of a stable, orderly, transparent, fair, efficient and viable market that protects investors and is internationally competitive; effectively enforce the ISA, 2007, Rules & Regulations and Codes made pursuant thereto as well as other relevant laws, maintain zero tolerance for market abuses; develop and deepen the market by promoting the introduction of new products and processes; and contribute to the nation’s economic growth and development.