By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Some Nigerians, especially stakeholders in the Nigerian capital market, have expressed their displeasure with the alleged role of the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, in the suspension of the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Mounir Gwarzo, last week.
A report also last week by Premium Times, a reputable online news firm in Nigeria, suggested that the Minister suspended Mr Gwarzo before he failed to stop a forensic audit of Oando Plc.
Oando, one of the biggest indigenous oil firms in Nigeria, was suspended by SEC and stopped from trading its shares on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
This was after a panel it set up found out that Oando violated some capital market rules.
It was reported that before Mr Gwarzo’s suspension, he had a meeting with the Minister and was allegedly told to choose between continuing with the forensic audit or lose his job.
And since the DG was suspended last week, many commentators have expressed mixed reactions.
On Monday morning, some stakeholders and Nigerians, took to Twitter to launch a campaign asking the Minister of Finance to resign.
They accused the former Commission for Finance in Ogun State of shielding Oando from facing the full wrath of the law.
The aggrieved stakeholders said, “(Kemi Adeosun) Remaining in office means she will use every available means to protect Oando. Forensic audit cannot be conducted without interference with Kemi Adeosun still in office. Now we know the powerful people aiding corruption in the land.”
They appealed to the “Senate and the House of Representatives and the committee in charge of capital market should rise up to this issue,” noting that “it is a real slap to both Nigeria system at large.
“If the interest of a person should jeopardize the interest of the world, because Oando has shareholders not only in Nigeria.”
Though the Federal Government announced an Acting DG for SEC, Mr Abdul Zubair, observers believe “clearly the forensic audit cannot be conducted without interference anymore. Even if it is conducted, it’s been tailored from the outset to short-change shareholders. Kemi Adeosun cannot be trusted,” insisting “#KemiAdeosunMustGo.”
