By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Mr Abdul Zubair has been announced by the Federal Government as the Acting Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Mr Zubair’s appointment followed the suspension of the Acting DG of the capital market regulatory agency, Mr Muniur Gwarzo, by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, last week.
Mr Gwarzo was accused of paying a severance package of N104 million to himself after his appointment as DG of the commission in 2015. He was further alleged to have awarded contracts from the commission to companies belonging to his associates.
A statement issued by SEC on Sunday by Mrs Efe Ebelo of SEC’s Corporate Communications Unit disclosed that the appointment of Mr Zubair takes immediate effect.
She said the appointee was made to fill the vacant position so as to boost confidence of investors in the capital market.
According to her, SEC would continue to ensure the stability of the Nigerian capital market and sustain the all-time high level of investors’ confidence.
Until his appointment, Mr Zubair was the director in charge of External Relations in the commission.
He is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he received B.Sc. Economics, MBA, M.Sc. and PhD Business Administration degrees.
He also holds a PGD (Mathematics & Computer Science) and a PGD (Education) from other universities and has over 25-year cognate experience in the financial industry and the academia.
SEC, which is awaiting outcome of the probe by the Administrative Panel of Inquiry into the allegations of the suspended Mr Gwarzo, noted that it would not allow the operational independence of SEC to be compromised at any point.
Adedapo Adesanya