The recent drama of anti-corruption tussle between the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, and the suspended Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Mounir Gwarzo, would take a different turn this week and the next, as members of the House of Representatives have called for the probe of both parties in two weeks, after they had traded allegations and counter-allegations.
Only last week, Adeosun suspended Gwarzo over allegations that he approved N104 million severance package for himself while he was still in service, among others. Two other top management officials of the SEC were also suspended. They are the Head of the Media Division, Mr. Abdulsalam Naif, and the Head of Legal Department, Anastasia Braimoh.
Adeosun, according to a statement by the Deputy Director of Press in the Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Patricia Deworitshe, stated that the suspension was to give room for unhindered investigations of the allegations levelled against the embattled DG and the two other officials.
The payment of severance allowance of N104m to the DG should be investigated. Also…the internal dispute between the DG and the minister should be probed. This is one way to avoid another collapse of the capital market
The minister stated that the suspension was in line with the Public Service Rules 03405 and 03406. Adeosun, according to the statement, has also set up an administrative panel of inquiry to investigate and determine the culpability of the suspended DG.
Besides, Gwarzo was alleged to be a director in Medusa Investment Limited, which is in violation of Public Service Rule 030424. He was also alleged to have awarded contracts to the same company and others to which he was related, thus resulting in a conflict of interest.
But contrary to all these allegations, a source close to Gwarzo said the ex-DG was a victim of persecution, averring that his suspension was actually provoked by a letter found offensive by the Finance Minister.
In the letter dated November 28, 2017, Gwarzo was said to have pointedly refused the minister’s instruction that the SEC should halt its investigation of Oando Plc, former employers of Mrs. Adeosun, for alleged crooked book-keeping and corruption.
It opened with a recall of the meeting held with Mrs. Adeosun on 27 November, where the minister verbally directed the SEC to discontinue the forensic audit of her former employers, adding that instead of the audit, the minister directed that a tripartite meeting with SEC’s legal officers, Oando Plc and the Federal Ministry of Finance should be convened to determine the penalties to be issued to officials of Oando Plc in their personal capacity.
The sacked SEC DG, however, warned the minister that her proposal would putting a question mark on the independence and integrity of SEC as well as erode the confidence of local and international investors in the country’s capital market. He also warned the minister that the investigation was being monitored by the investment community, locally and globally.
It stated, “As you may be aware, the activities around the investigation of Oando Plc are being monitored by the local and global investment community and they eagerly expect the outcome of the exercise. It is, therefore, not in the best interest of our recovering economy that the forensic audit is not seen to be conducted in an independent and transparent manner as proposed by the commission.”
He pointed the minister’s attention to the fact that over the last three years, the SEC had embarked on enforcement actions against big players in the capital market, a step he claimed had largely sanitised the process and resulted in an eight per cent reduction in the occurrence of infractions within the period.
A major infraction Oando was alleged to have committed, said Mr. Gwarzo, is financial mismanagement, which consequences are being borne by 274,000 shareholders of the company.
As such, Mr. Gwarzo wrote: “It is only proper that a process, which would reveal the status of the allegation to ascertain its veracity or otherwise be embarked upon in a transparent manner.
“This, in my opinion, will put to rest the question of how the shareholder funds have been managed by the persons appointed to do so for the shareholders.
“The commission, therefore, as the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market, has the responsibility to ensure that a thorough, independent and transparent process is put in place to unravel the true financial status of the company.”
Gwarzo’s letter, aside from costing him his job, also immediately made him a subject of interest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission.
Meanwhile, while some lawmakers in the green chamber have launched investigation into the allegations and counter-allegations, others advised their colleagues to thread with care.
For instance, the Chairman, House Committee on Works, Mr. Toby Okechukwu, warned that the matter, if not diligently handled, could once again lead to a drop in activities in the capital
market.
He said, “The payment of severance allowance of N104m to the DG should be investigated. Also, the circumstances of the internal dispute between the DG and the minister should be probed. This is one way to avoid another collapse of the capital market.”
