Economy
SEC: Gwarzo Paid 44 Persons N1.7b for Golden Handshake—Panel
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
More revelations are being made on some alleged illegality carried out by the suspended Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Mounir Gwarzo.
Mr Gwarzo got into trouble after he was accused of paying himself the sum of N104.8 million as severance package while still under the employment of the commission.
Though claimed he was punished by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, for failing to stop a forensic audit of Oando Plc, which was suspended from trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) by SEC, the Minister rubbished it, saying that was never the case.
A panel set up by the Minister to look into allegations against Mr Gwarzo recommended his dismissal.
More details of the panel’s investigations have revealed that the suspended capital market regulatory chief allegedly paid the sum of N1.7 billion to 44 workers of the commission under a scheme called ‘2015 Golden Handshake.’
Under the programme, employees of SEC willing to the services of the commission were given the opportunity to do so with a payment made.
“In 2015, he singlehandedly, without a budgetary provision, paid N1.7 billion to a set of staff under a golden handshake arrangement. By law, the DG of SEC is required to seek the approval of the Minister of Finance, even if there is a board in place.
“They should have sought the approval of the minister, who in turn would present it to the President and the request sent to the National Assembly.
“But the suspended SEC DG went outside budget provision to effect the payment,” said a source, who backed his claim with documents, informed New Telegraph.
Another source said the Administrative Panel, headed by Dr Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, the Permanent Secretary of the Finance Ministry that investigated Mr Gwarzo after his temporary suspension, unearthed payments in millions of Naira paid to firms linked to him.
One of the firms, Outbound Investments Limited, has Mr Gwarzo as Director on its board with 200,000 ordinary shares. Several payments amounting to millions of naira were paid by SEC to the firm’s bank account.
For instance, SEC, on February 21, 2017 paid the sum of N2,241,360 to Outbound Investments for supply of diesel. It had previously, on October 10, 2016 and July 27, 2016 paid the firm N1.9 million and N2.2 million respectively for supplies. Series of payments made to the company by SEC as evidenced in the invoice sighted by this medium are as follow; June 6, 2016, N 2,178,000 for supply of 11,000 litres of diesel; May 17, 2016, N2,178,000 paid for 11,000 litres of diesel; N2,464,400 paid on April 5, 2017 for 8,000 litres of diesel that was discharged on March 29, 2017. Contrary to claim by Mr Gwarzo that he had resigned his membership from the board of Outbound Investment and Medusa Investments Limited, a copy of resolution reached by the board of Medusa Investment, dated August 15, 2016 showed Mr Mounir Gwarzo as Managing Director and Khaijah Mustapha, another Director signed copy of board resolution respectively. A copy of Medusa Investments resolution addressed to its bank, directed it to issue a new corporate naira MasterCards on the company’s account to Gwarzo and Khadijat, the firm’s two directors.
The source said: “Gwarzo’s personal interest in the identified companies is a clear contravention of the regulation, which explicitly prohibits public officers from being in situations that bring their personal interest into conflict with their public duties.
“Also, the use of the companies as suppliers to the commission, said government sources, amounted to earning wealth illegally and contravenes the EFCC Act, as well as the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.”
Mr Gwarzo was placed on temporary suspension last November on the orders of the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, to allow unhindered investigation into allegations of financial misconduct.
An administrative panel, headed by permanent secretary of the ministry, interrogated and submitted its report. One of the recommendations by the panel to the Federal Government was outright dismissal of the embattled director-general from the public service of the Federal Government.
It also recommended that the suspended DG be referred to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) for further investigation over award of contracts to his company. The panel, in the report, which has been submitted to Mrs Adeosun, directed Mr Gwarzo to refund the sum of N104,851,154.94, being the severance package he approved and received for himself.
Mrs Adeosun and Mr Gwarzo appeared on Tuesday before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Capital Market this week.
The minister defended her decision to suspend Mr Gwarzo, stating that she did not have to wait for the anti-graft agencies to handcuff him before suspending him from office over allegations of financial misconduct.
She equally disclosed that the report of the administrative panel of inquiry was ready for submission to President Muhammadu Buhari.
In his submission before the committee, Mr Gwarzo said his suspension last November coincided with his refusal to stop the forensic audit of Oando Plc, a Nigerian energy firm, after Mrs Adeosun had pressurised him to do so.
Mr Gwarzo, in his capacity as the DG of SEC, had ordered the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to place the shares of Oando on technical suspension, following allegations of capital market infractions against the energy company. He said he acted on the petitions by two shareholders of Oando – Mr Dahiru Mangal and Ansbury Investment Inc. – who had accused the executive management of Oando of financial mismanagement and had sought for their ouster. Based on SEC’s subsequent investigation into the allegations by the company’s shareholders, Mr Gwarzo, as DG, had listed various infractions committed by Oando and ordered that a forensic audit be undertaken of the company to reaffirm the commission’s findings.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.
MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.
The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.
Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.
When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.
Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.
This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.
The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.
On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.
Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.
At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.
For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.
The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.
Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.
As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.
Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.
Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.
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