Economy

Appeal Court Affirms SEC Powers to Regulate Public Firms

Published

7 years ago

14/03/2019

By Dipo Olowookere

A Court of Appeal in Nigeria has said the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been authority to oversee affairs in any publicly listed companies in the capital market so as to protect interest of investors.

The judgment, which was given on January 31, 2019, emphasised that SEC, being the apex regulator in the capital market in Nigeria, has powers to intervene in the management and control of any public company which is considered to have failed, is failing or is in crises.

The ruling noted that the commission was statutorily mandated to ensure the protection of investors and maintain a fair, efficient and transparent market.

In 2008, SEC had conducted an investigation on Big Treat Plc, a public listed company (firstrespondent) and its directors which revealed several infractions of the Investments and Securities Act (ISA) 2007 such as inadequate internal control systems and a breakdown of corporate governance in the company.

Based on the foregoing, and pursuant to the provisions of Section 13 (v) of the ISA 2007, the commission in 2010 approached the Federal High Court seeking a number of reliefs against Big Treat Plc (first respondent), three of its directors – Pamela Wu, Harries Wu, Steve Wu – and two entities owned by them – New Frontier Engineering and Construction Company Ltd and Skyone Group of Companies Ltd with a view to preserving the assets of the first respondent.

In the course of the proceedings, SEC applied for and was granted an ex-parte order of interim injunction restraining the second– sixth respondents, their agents, servants or privies from obstructing the commission in the exercise of its statutory oversight responsibilities to the first respondent including the appointment of an interim management to take charge of the day to day administration of the first respondent with a view to preserving its assets in the interest of its stakeholders pending the determination of the motion on notice already filed in this suit.

However, the ex-parte order was subsequently vacated on the grounds that the first respondent (Big Treat Plc) “was not a capital market operator amenable to the control and management of the appellant in times of financial distress”.

The commission appealed against the decision of the Federal High Court and the sole issue for determination as raised by SEC before the Court of Appeal was “whether the lower court was right when it held that the first respondent (Big Treat Plc) is not a capital market operator because it does not play any specific role in the capital market and as such, not registerable or subject to the control of the appellant (the commission)”.

In the judgment, the appellate court held, “That the first respondent, an issuer of securities, having been duly registered with the appellants and was at all material times performing the specific function of issuing securities in the capital market was subject to the intervention of the statutory powers of the appellant as the pinnacle regulatory authority for the Nigerian capital market whose sole purpose is to ensure the protection of investors and to maintain fair, efficient and transparent capital market as well as reduction of systemic risk as stated in the preamble of the ISA- the beacon light to the powers of the appellant under the ISA.”

“In conclusion, I most respectfully hold that the court below should not have vacated the interim preservative order made by it to protect the imminent collapse of the first respondent but the appellant who at all material times was exercising statutory powers under the ISA to stem the tide of decay in the internal management of the first respondent,” the court further held.

Economy

TotalEnergies Sells 10% Stake in Renaissance JV to Vaaris

Published

7 hours ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the divestment of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.

The Renaissance JV, formerly known as the SPDC JV, is an unincorporated joint venture between Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (55 per cent), Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd (30 per cent, operator), TotalEnergies EP Nigeria (10 per cent) and Agip Energy and Natural Resources Nigeria (5 per cent), which holds 18 licences in the Niger Delta.

In a statement by TotalEnergies on Wednesday, it was stated that under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil.

Production from these licences, it was said, represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in company’s share in 2025.

The agreement also stated that TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the three other licences of Renaissance JV which are producing mainly gas, namely OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77, while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licences, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply.

Business Post reports that the conclusion of the deal is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.

“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the sale of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.

“Under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil. Production from these licences represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in the company’s share in 2025.

“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the 3 other licenses of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly gas (OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77), while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licenses, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply. Closing is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals,” the statement reads in part.

The development is part of TotalEnergies’ strategies to dump more assets to lighten its books and debt.

Economy

NGX RegCo Revokes Trading Licence of Monument Securities

Published

16 hours ago

14/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The trading licence of Monument Securities and Finance Limited has been revoked by the regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc.

Known as NGX Regulations Limited (NGX Regco), the regulator said it took back the operating licence of the organisation after it shut down its operations.

The revocation of the licence was approved by Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC) at its meeting held on September 24, 2025, a notice from the signed by the Head of Market Regulations at the agency, Chinedu Akamaka, said.

“This is to formally notify all trading license holders that the board of NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo) has approved the decision of the Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC)” in respect of Monument Securities and Finance Limited, a part of the disclosure stated.

Monument Securities and Finance Limited was earlier licensed to assist clients with the trading of stocks in the Nigerian capital market.

However, with the latest development, the firm is no longer authorised to perform this function.

Economy

NEITI Advocates Fiscal Discipline, Transparency as FG, States, LGs Get N6trn in Three Months

Published

16 hours ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called for fiscal discipline and transparency as data showed that federal government, states, and local governments shared a whopping N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in the third quarter of last year.

In its analysis of the FAAC Q3 2025 allocation, the body revealed that the federal government received N2.19 trillion, states received N1.97 trillion, and local governments received N1.45 trillion.

According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Stakeholders Management at NEITI, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, the allocation indicated a historic rise in federation account receipts and distributions, explaining that year-on-year quarterly FAAC allocations in 2025 grew by 55.6 per cent compared with Q3 of 2024 while it more than doubling allocations over two years.

The report contained in the agency’s Quarterly Review noted that the N6 trillion included 13 per cent payments to derivative states. It also showed that statutory revenues accounted for 62 per cent of shared receipts, while Value Added Tax (VAT) was 34 per cent, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and augmentation from non-oil excess revenue each accounted for 2 per cent, respectively.

The distribution to the 36 states comprised revenues from statutory sources, VAT, EMTL, and ecological funds. States also received additional N100 billion as augmentation from the non-oil excess revenue account.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Sarkin Adar, called on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) FAAC, the National Economic Council (NEC), the National Assembly, and state governments to act on the recommendations to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term fiscal sustainability.

“Though the Quarter 3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, NEITI reiterates that the data presents an opportunity to the government to institutionalise prudent fiscal practices that will protect the gains that have been recorded so far in growing revenue and reduce vulnerability to commodity shocks.

“The Q3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, but windfalls must be managed with discipline. Greater transparency, realistic budgeting, and stronger stabilisation mechanisms will ensure these resources deliver durable benefits for all Nigerians,” Mr Adar said.

NEITI urged the government at all levels to ensure the growth of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth and stabilisation capacity, by committing to regular transfers to the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund and other related stabilisation mechanisms in line with the fiscal responsibility frameworks.

It further advised governments at all levels to adopt realistic budget benchmarks by setting more conservative and achievable crude oil production and price assumptions in the budget to reduce implementation gaps, deficit, and debt metrics.

This, it said, is in addition to accelerating revenue diversification by prioritising reforms that would attract investments into the mining sector, expedite legislation to modernise the Mineral and Mining Act, support reforms in the downstream petroleum sector, as well as the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to expand domestic refining and value addition.