Economy
CACOL Defends Corruption Petition Against Suspended SEC DG
By Dipo Olowookere
A non-political, non-religious, and non-profit making organization, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), which filed a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the suspended Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Mournir Haliru Gwarzo, has visited the anti-graft agency to defend its allegations against the SEC boss.
A statement signed on Monday by the Executive Chairman of CACOL, Comrade Debo Adeniran, disclosed that the visit was sequel to an invitation to the group by the EFCC on the petition of corruption levelled against Mr Gwarzo.
It was gathered that Mr Adeniran spent about an hour at the EFCC’s office in Abuja, where he met with the Head of investigating team at the Capital Market Unit of the EFCC.
“We responded to the invitation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC today (Monday) to adopt (defend) our petition against Mr Gwarzo.
“We are delighted that the EFCC responded promptly, and is enthusiastic to investigate the subject of our petition. We intend to follow through with this process and we will not be distracted by all the attempts by Mr Gwarzo and his cronies to make us back down drawing on absurd and unconnected straws to whip up sentiment in the media.
“Those who know us know we do not just take up a cause, when we do, we are tenacious in our pursuit and we approach our campaigns with independence of mind,” the CACOL boss was quoted as saying in the statement.
Mr Adeniran further disclosed that the allegations against Mr Gwarzo have been before various people in government for months unattended to until CACOL took up the issue.
“We commend the Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun for the courage to take the issue up after others have looked the other way for months. We urge her to be steadfast in the face of various attempts to blackmail her into dropping the investigations into the allegations.
“If she musters the tenacity to follow through on this investigation as she did with fighting the cabal behind the ghost workers who almost bled the nation to death with false wage bills, then history would be kind to her,” he said.
Comrade Adeniran further disclosed that even as CACOL was preparing to make its defence appearance before the EFCC, it has just received more mind boggling documents relating to various corrupt practices by the Mr Gwarzo.
It will be recalled that the organization, CACOL, petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the relevant Committees in the Senate and House of Representatives and the various anti-corruption agencies to order a thorough audit of the finances of the Commission under Mr Gwarzo following the allegations of corruption.
The DG is alleged to have engaged in series of anti-establishment manipulations to enrich himself through acts that are at variance with civil service rules and regulations.
It was alleged that Mr Gwarzo has been running SEC as his personal business and appoints companies with links to him and some of his cronies in office as contractors who provide services to the Commission.
Some of the companies listed to have links with Mr Gwarzo, his wife and other cronies are: Outbound Investment Ltd, RC NO. 807317; Medusa Investments Limited, RC NO. 326829; Northwind Environmental Services. REG NO BN2389176; and Micro-Technologies LTD RC NO. 173805.
Others are Tida International Ltd RC NO. 26414; Outlook Communications; AcromacNig Ltd RC NO. 10687864; Balfort International Investment Ltd RC NO. 109153; and Interactiven Worldwide Nigeria Ltd RC NO. 779442.
On January 2, 2013, Mr Gwarzo was appointed an Executive Commissioner in the Securities and Exchange Commission for a four-year tenure. Before the expiration of the four-year deal, Mr Gwarzo was elevated as the Director General of the Commission on May 22, 2015.
But consequent upon resumption of office as the Director General of SEC, Mr Gwarzo ordered the payment of a severance benefit to himself to the tune of N104.9 million.
Comrade Adeniran restated the call on President Muhammadu Buhari to take immediate steps to constitute a Board for the Securities and Exchange Commission as provided for in the extant laws establishing the Commission.
“The Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2007 which gives the Commission its current powers also made a provision for the appointment of a nine (9) member Board to be headed by a Chairman. The idea of the Board is to, amongst other things, ensure that no Director General of the Commission can become a law onto himself or herself and act without appropriate checks by the Board” President Buhari must ensure this is done without further delay,” he said.
Considering the high probability of atrocities being committed unchecked under the present circumstance in which the SEC has functioned without a Board, CACOL called on President Muhammadu Buhari through the Finance Minister to order a thorough audit of the finances of the Commission and penalize everyone found guilty of fraudulent activities.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.
Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.
Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.
But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.
Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.
A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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