By Chinwendu Obienyi and Chukuma Umeorah
Capital Market stakeholders, including shareholders and operators, at the weekend, welcomed the appointment of Emomotimi Agama as the new Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stating that this would bring about a renewed focus on transparency, accountability and investors’ protection.
This came after President Bola Tinubu on Friday, stated that Agama would take over from Lamido Yuguda. According to the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, Tinubu also appointed Lairiga Katuka as SEC’s board chairman.
The spokesperson also stated that Frana Chukwuogor was appointed as the Commission’s Executive Commissioner (legal and enforcement); Bola Ajomale, Executive Commissioner (operations); Samiya Usman, Executive Commissioner (corporate services).
Tinubu further approved the appointment of Lekan Belo and Kasimu Kurfi as Non-Executive Commissioners. Ngelale added that the president anticipates the SEC board will bring their wealth of experience to bear and competence in advancing the commission’s core mandate.
Shareholders and operators who spoke to Daily Sun in separate interviews, expressed optimism over Agama’s appointment, expressing their belief that his leadership will strengthen the capital market and enhance investor confidence.
They added that they expect the new DG to engage more actively with stakeholders in the capital market, addressing their concerns and incorporating their feedback into SEC’s policies and decisions.
The Vice-Chairman, Highcap Securities Limited, David Adonri, described the appointment as “shocking”, stating that the change in the SEC board seems to have been unexpected.
“As regards the decision, you should understand that in politics, a lot of things come into consideration. One cannot really determine the political reasons for the change or any other information the president may have relied upon to exercise his power. It came as a surprise to us. The tenure of the outgoing Director-General has not elapsed, however, it is the prerogative of the President to appoint and remove board members as he so desires,” Adonri said.
Whilst acknowledging that the outgoing board performed well, Adonri said the incoming board is perceived as competent and trustworthy. “While the outgoing board have performed very well, the members of the incoming board are highly experienced and credible market operators. To that extent, the market is very comfortable with the new appointees,” he said.
For his part, the national coordinator, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Boniface Okezie, sees the change as a positive development, indicating dissatisfaction with Yuguda’s performance as the Director-General.
Criticising Yuguda for not involving shareholders in decision-making processes, Okezie alleged that SEC illegally held funds from delisted companies.
Okezie said, “Despite writing to the SEC multiple times without receiving responses. Those monies have no business staying with SEC on whatever guise they took those money, it remains illegal.
“I had written to them several times, but he (Yuguda) never responded. Even when the SEC board/management had taken the decision to return that money to various registrars to disburse to shareholders, I was told severally that all that remained was for the DG to sign off for the money to be returned, but he never did.
“I urge the new leadership to look into this matter and resolve it as soon as possible so that the owners can get their money.”
As the new SEC DG, Agama is a relatively less popular figure than Lamido Yuguda who shares the same last name with former Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda. However, Agama currently possesses about 20 years working experience with SEC, having joined the organisation in 2004.
Commonly known as “Dr Agama” within SEC, Agama obtained his bachelor’s degree in Accountancy from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology in 1991. He then followed up with two master’s degrees from the University of Benin, one in Banking and Finance obtained in 1997, and another in Economics obtained in 2000. He got his doctorate degree in Economics from the Nile University of Nigeria in 2022. Prior to his appointment as DG of SEC, Emomotimi Agama had served as the Managing Director of the Nigerian Capital Market Institute, a subsidiary of the SEC, a position he assumed in 2018, first as a part-time role, then a full-time role.
