Economy

Lagos to Partner ICAN to Boost Informal Sector

Published

8 years ago

27/09/2017

By Dipo Olowookere

Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, has promised to work in collaboration with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in order to boost the informal sector of the state’s economy.

Mr Ambode made this disclosure on Tuesday when the group, led by its President, Mr Ismaila Zakari, paid a courtesy visit to him at the Lagos House in Alausa, Ikeja.

Governor Ambode thanked the institute for the skill sets inculcated in him 30 years ago when he became a professional accountant, saying that those skills were very relevant and still useful in administering the State.

“Yes, there are leaders that come and go at different times, but the wish of God that an ICAN member should be at the helm of affairs of Lagos State at a time when it is so problematic, at a time when revenue is going down and at a time we want to protect our people from unimaginable taxation, but again the skill sets to be able to put all these resources together for the benefit of humanity is encouraging.

“I just want to encourage ICAN that whatever are the ideals and principles of the body are not in vain.

“The products are here for people to see and this is what we want to commend to other people and other professionals that ICAN has come a long way and ICAN has proven also that the leadership of this country is actually in the hands of those who have the public finance expertise to lead this country ahead which we have proven by what we have done in the last two and half years.

“There is no miracle in what we are doing, the fact is that it is about our skills and the knowledge that the Institute has impacted in all of us for which we are proud of,” Mr Ambode said.

Besides, the Governor acknowledged that though his administration was implementing the N25billion ETF, he would nonetheless collaborate with ICAN to boost the informal sector especially in areas of entrepreneurship skills and capital.

According to him, “There are too many people that are unemployed and there are too many people that are creative and innovative but again they don’t have that support or the capital to do the things they ought to do and so if we have collaborators like ICAN, we will also put some money there because it is about Lagosians, it is about employment and it is about growth and development,” Governor Ambode said.

He also pledged to uphold and scale up the partnership that had always existed between the State Government and ICAN.

On his part, President of ICAN, Mr Ismaila Zakari, lauded the various initiatives and programmes of Mr Ambode, saying it confirms that chartered accountants can add value to governance in Nigeria, describing the Governor as a worthy ambassador of the Institute.

MR Zakari said the remarkable achievements of the Governor in office so far were worthy of emulation by other leaders.

He recalled that despite the economic challenges in the country in 2016, Lagos State, under Governor Ambode, raked in N287 billion as internally generated revenue, a figure ranked among the best the State ever generated, while the Governor also fulfilled his major electioneering campaign by implementing the N25 billion Employment Trust Fund (ETF), which he said had immensely scaled up entrepreneurship and reduced unemployment.

While noting the reconstruction of 114 inner roads across the 57 Local Government Councils in the State, Mr Zakari also commended the Light Up Lagos project and the Agric initiative aimed at encouraging local production of rice, saying that the remarkable initiative had greatly reduced rice importation and enhanced foreign exchange of the country.

The ICAN President said, “These momentous achievements are testimonies not only to Governor Ambode’s enviable track record of service to the good people of Lagos State, but they are also indelible evidence of the value that chartered accountants can add to governance.

“We are truly proud of your achievements in office and therefore warmly commend and hold you out as a worthy ambassador of the accounting profession from whom others in governance should take a cue.”

While seeking the incorporation of accountants under the ICAN technician scheme into the N25 billion ETF, Mr Zakari also invited Governor Ambode to deliver a lead paper on the theme: ‘Young Professionals: Emerging Leaders of Change and Nation Building,’ at the 47th edition of the annual Accountant Conference.

Economy

SEC Hikes Minimum Capital for Operators to Boost Market Resilience, Others

Published

18 minutes ago

16/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced a comprehensive revision of minimum capital requirements for nearly all capital market operators, marking the most significant overhaul since 2015.

The changes, outlined in a circular issued on January 16, 2026, obtained from its website on Friday, replace the previous regime. Operators have been given until June 30, 2027, to comply.

The SEC stated that the reforms aim to strengthen market resilience, enhance investor protection, discourage undercapitalised operators, and align capital adequacy with the evolving risk profile of market activities.

According to the circular, “The revised framework applies to brokers, dealers, fund managers, issuing houses, fintech firms, digital asset operators, and market infrastructure providers.”

Some of the key highlights of the new reforms include increment of minimum capital for brokers from N200 million to N600 million while for dealers, it was raised to N1 billion from N100 million.

For broker-dealers, they are to get N2 billion instead of the previous N300 million, reflecting multi-role exposure across trading, execution, and margin lending.

The agency said fund and portfolio managers with assets above N20 billion must hold N5 billion, while mid-tier managers must maintain N2 billion with private equity and venture capital firms to have N500 million and N200 million, respectively.

There was also dynamic rule as firms managing assets above N100 billion must hold at least 10 per cent of assets under management as capital.

“Digital asset firms, previously in a regulatory grey area, are now fully covered: digital exchanges and custodians must maintain N2 billion each, while tokenisation platforms and intermediaries face thresholds of N500 million to N1 billion. Robo-advisers must hold N100 million.

“Other segments are also affected: issuing houses offering full underwriting services must hold N7 billion, advisory-only firms N2 billion, registrars N2.5 billion, trustees N2 billion, underwriters N5 billion, and individual investment advisers N10 million. Market infrastructure providers carry some of the highest obligations, with composite exchanges and central counterparties required to maintain N10 billion each, and clearinghouses N5 billion,” the SEC added.

Economy

Austin Laz CEO Austin Lazarus Offloads 52.24 million Shares Worth N227.8m

Published

48 minutes ago

16/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The founder and chief executive of Austin Laz and Company Plc, Mr Asimonye Austin Lazarus Azubuike, has sold off about 52.24 million shares of the organisation.

The stocks were offloaded in 11 tranches at an average price of N4.36 per unit, amounting to about N227.8 million.

The transactions occurred between December 2025 and January 2026, according to a notice filed by the company to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday.

Business Post reports that Austin Laz is known for producing ice block machines, aluminium roofing, thermoplastics coolers, PVC windows and doors, ice cream machines, and disposable plates.

The firm evolved from refrigeration sales to diverse manufacturing since its incorporation in 1982 in Benin City, Edo State, though facing recent operational halts.

According to the statement signed by company secretary, Ifeanyi Offor & Associates, Mr Azubuike first sold 1.5 million units of the equities at N2.42, and then offloaded 2.4 million units at N2.65, and 2.0 million units at N2.65.

In another tranche, he sold another 2.0 million units at a unit price of N2.91, and then 5.0 million units at N3.52, as well as about 4.5 million at N3.87 per share.

It was further disclosed that the owner of the company also sold 9.0 million shares at N4.25, and offloaded another 368,411 units at N4.66, then in another transaction sold about 6.9 million units at N4.67.

In the last two transactions he carried out, Mr Azubuike first traded 10.0 million units equities at N5.13, with the last being 8.5 million stocks sold at N5.64 per unit.

Economy

NGX RegCo Delists ASO Savings from Stock Exchange

Published

4 hours ago

16/01/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

ASO Savings and Loans Plc has been delisted from the daily official list of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.

This action followed the revocation of the operating licence of the company by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in December 2025.

In a circular on behalf of the NGX Regulation (NGX RegCo) by Ugochi Eke, it was disclosed that the effective date of the delisting is today, Friday, January 16, 2026.

Already, the company has been notified of this development, according to the notice obtained by Business Post.

Before ASO Savings lost its operating licence, it had failed to meet some post-listing requirements, a part of the disclosure from the NGX RegCo stated.

“The board of NGX Regulation Limited via its decision dated January 1, 2026, approved that the step below should be taken pursuant to the process for regulatory delisting of issuers.

“The board has approved the delisting of ASO Savings and Loans Plc from the Nigerian Exchange Limited’s daily official list effective January 16, 2026.

“ASO Savings is hereby notified of this enforcement action and is advised to direct any communication in respect of the foregoing to [email protected].

“NGX RegCo was engaging the listed entity, concerning its outstanding post-listing obligations. However, due to the revocation of the operating license of ASO Savings by its primary regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) effective December 16, 2025; NGX RegCo will delist the entity from the daily official list effective January 16, 2026.

“In view of the foregoing, NGX RegCo has proceeded with publishing the name of the Company in the national dailies.

“The company has been duly notified of this enforcement action, and this publication serves as notification to the investing public, particularly shareholders of the company and investors in the Nigerian capital market,” the statement read.