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Gwarzo replaces Oteh as acting SEC DG

By on January 14, 2015

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday announced that the Executive Commissioner, Operations, Mr. MounirGwarzo, had taken over the affairs of the commission as the acting Director General.

Gwarzo takes over the leadership of the commission from Ms ArunmaOteh, whose tenure ended on January 7.

Oteh, according to a statement issued by SEC in Abuja, handed over to Gwarzo at a ceremony held at the commission’s headquarters.

Oteh was quoted as describing her five-year tenure at the commission as absolutely outstanding, and attributed the successes recorded to the cooperation she received from every member of staff.

She said “When I joined SEC in January 2010, I was absolutely certain about why SEC was important and what its role and what the agenda was. I was able to articulate it in one phrase: ‘Building a world class market.’

“To have a vision and have everyone being able to connect and align around it, whether it is capital market operators, shareholders and other stakeholders, for me was very rewarding.

“But I don’t think it would have been possible without each and every one of you accepting the challenge to try something in a different way or to do something in a way that you are not quite sure of.”

She said that what the commission had been able to achieve in summary was to lay a foundation for the nation to see a capital market that would help tackle its infrastructure challenges.

This, she noted, would help people who were setting up businesses to raise millions of naira in capital.

Oteh said. “Our aim is to build a meritocracy so that it is the viable businesses that get funded, not necessarily the ones that have connections so that we can also tackle some of what we are seeing in our world today, whether it is security challenges we face or the security challenges that everybody faces.

“My view is that one of the things that will address it is if people can feel that they are included, that they have economic access, that they can create wealth, that the income inequalities that we see around us can be addressed.

“And I believe that the capital market is the answer and what we have done in the last five years is to lay a foundation; there is still a lot of work to be done.”

Gwarzo attended the Bayero University, Kano and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics in 1987.

In 1991, he proceeded to the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom where, he obtained a Post Graduate Degree in Development Finance.

Gwarzo is taking over the helm of affairs at a time when the capital market is witnessing massive drop in all its indices.

For instance, the Nigerian Stock Exchange ended 2014 as one of the worst performing exchanges in the world as the market capitalisation of the listed equities fell by N1.749tn to N11.477tn from N13.226tn at the start of the year.

This is despite the listing of companies such as Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc and Omoluabi Savings and Loans Plc, which added billions of naira to the market capitalisation.

Stakeholders are, however, anxious to know who will replace Oteh on a permanent basis as this will determine the direction of the market going forward.

The Federal Government had the option of extending Oteh’s tenure for another five years, but it was gathered that it opted against that and communicated the reason for the decision to her.

Following the confirmation of her exit by SEC on Sunday, Gwarzo, who has over 25 years’ experience in the capital market as an operator and regulator, was tipped as the front runner for the job.

Although some stakeholders said it was very likely that he would be confirmed, others said the appointment of a new DG could be politicised and an “outsider” might be appointed.

 

[Punch]