The sacked director general of the Nigeria Securities and Exchange Commission (NSE), Mrs. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, yesterday said that despite contrary statements, she remains the director general of the NSE, having been declared so by a High Court ruling recently.
She said a Federal High Court ruling delivered by Justice Mohammed Idris on May 20, 2012 declared her removal by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) illegal but explained that she didn’t go back to the position because of the need to preserve her integrity.
“I am still the director general of the Nigeria Stock Exchange. The only reason I did not go back to effect that order is because I have integrity. I am an international figure, I am known all over the world because of my work in the stock exchange and elsewhere,” the former NSE DG told the Ibrahim El-Sudi led House of Representatives panel investigating the near collapse of Nigeria’s capital market.
“I have made pronouncement in the media 2008, 2009, 2010 that I am retiring. Why will I now turnaround because the court said that someone’s (referring to Oteh) claim that she removed me is illegal and unconstitutional? I will not because of that say I am back and want to do another five years”, she continued.
Brandishing four court injunctions, Okereke-Onyinke warned the director-general of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Arunma Oteh against publishing a highly indicting 42-page report of a SEC sanctioned forensic investigation into alleged shenanigans at the NSE perpetuated under Okereke-Onyinke watch.
“Four Federal High Courts have gone through the 42 page report and declared it null and void and of no effect.
?It must never be used against any body or published anywhere or spoken about anywhere,” she warned. In her presentation to the lower House panel, she blamed the capital market near crash on reckless margin loans issued by banks to investors in the market and regulatory actions.
“The indiscriminate granting of margin loans by the banks to all manners of investors and market operators caused the market bubble.” Okereke-Onyuike told the panel.
She said that banks in many cases insisted that such margin loans were used to purchase their own shares. According to her, the margin loans that were not properly structured and monitored by regulators (CBN and SEC) created excess cash in the market, and the share prices got bloated.
Responding to enquiries on what exactly could be identified as the ‘last straw that broke the camel’s back’, she added, “I will say that it is regulatory pronouncement and actions because yes, there are some banks that did some things wrong but there are some aspects that you find something wrong about but you don’t make it out in the public until you have solved the problem until you have proven it because you will hurt the market”.
She punctured allegations of financial irregularity and mismanagement levelled against her by SEC,? insisting that all expenditure made under her tenure were properly vetted and approved by the NSE board.
Okereke-Onyuike denied using shareholder funds to fund NSE activities. “The stock exchange does not take public funds, it has no direct dealing with the public, it deals with the public through the stockbrokers and regulate those stockbrokers.
“I want Nigerians to know that the stock exchange did not take money from anybody. These accounts are fully audited from 2002-2009”.
Responding to Rolex watches and other gifts distributed by the NSE, she clarified that the gifts were for long serving staffers and members of the NSE.
“That long service award is for 48 years not for one year. So if you hear that 80 watches were bought, it is for 48 years because stock exchange is 50 years old. They had not done a long service and the council decided to do it and told the management what to do. Everybody including SEC were there and they saw the people come and receive their award, even dead people. Their families came and received their cars or watches or whatever that was bought and it is nobody’s business except the business of a private company limited by guarantee”.
On the foreign trip by the NSE board, she said, “NSE is not a profit making organisation that will say it has profit to share. And the stock exchange never shared any money to council members, stock exchange gave money to council members to go on educational tour to learn on the workings of the stock exchange.
“Even if we did, the money belongs to the stock exchange, unlike the people that use government money to do other things (in sarcastic reference to the SEC DG). Stock exchange money is not government money, it is not public money either”.
Against the backdrop of plans to demutualise the NSE, Okereke-Onyuike said her removal was a hatchet plan to exclude her participation in the process — the former DG NSE would have been up for automatic membership of the NSE council if allowed to complete her tenure.
Lawmakers fear of a deliberate plan by SEC to control appropriating rights in the planned NSE demutualisation process in other to skew the sale process in favour of some Nigerians – a position consistently argued in select quarters.
Under stock exchanges, demutualisation relates to a process whereby a member-owned stock exchange is transformed into a shareholder-owned exchange.
In Nigeria, NSE is owned by its members as opposed to shareholder ownership as is the practice in many foreign markets such as the New York and London Stock Exchanges.
Okereke-Onyuike told federal lawmakers that there was no conflict of interest while she served as NSE DG and Chairman of Transcorp Corporation simultaneously. She said it was against her will but for the insistence by ex president Olusegun Obasanjo.
The erstwhile NSE DG refuted reports that she raised campaign funds for the US President Barrack Obama election, stating emphatically that she did not commit any offence since she only garnered support for his election by encouraging those she knew encourage their wards and friends in USA to register and vote for Obama.