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  • Oteh vs the House: Bad laws and blackmail

    Oteh vs the House: Bad laws and blackmail

    The latest episode of the long-running Arunma Oteh versus House of Representatives soap opera ought to be subtitled: Episode 10 – Bad laws and Blackmail.

    At this point the lady would be wishing she had devoted more time to studying the fine art of diplomacy and ego massage, before dumping her cushy job as Vice President for Corporate Development at the African Development Bank (AfDB) in order to become an Abuja powerhouse as Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

    Given that early in her tenure she set out an agenda for cleaning out the capital market and taking on entrenched interests, it was inevitable that she would get into pretty serious fights. Some of those slugfests have been brutal affairs – with little or no provision for civility.

    Remember the clash of the amazons? In the red corner brimming with reformist zeal was Oteh; in the blue corner was the hulking presence of the longstanding boss of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke.

    Despite the bruising nature of that engagement, it is not the reason that the SEC DG’s tumultuous reign now faces the very real threat of an abrupt and ignominious termination. Credit for that must go to the infamous clash last year at a public hearing on the collapse of the Nigerian capital market called by the House Committee on Capital Markets and other Financial Institutions.

    Most readers will recall the heated exchanges between Oteh and committee chairman, Herman Hembe, and the lurid tales of bribes solicited and given on both sides. The grubby exchange led to the fall of the chairman and the dissolution of his committee.

    Oteh only fared slightly better. She was asked to proceed on compulsory leave by the SEC board, pending an independent investigation into the management of Project 50, a programme put together by her to commemorate 50 years of the capital market in Nigeria. Although the board-ordered probe by PricewaterhouseCoopers will clear her of any financial impropriety – opening the way for her return to office, the definitive battle of her tenure was just beginning to take shape.

    If Oteh’s interaction with the Hembe committee was prickly, it was not much better with the successor committee. Offended legislators bided their time – waiting to exact their pound of flesh.

    In short order they came up with a report that was anything but laudatory for the SEC boss. One of the most contentious conclusions reached was that Oteh was not qualified to head the commission because she did not possess the requisite professional qualification prescribed in the Securities and Exchange Commission Act for appointment to the office of Director-General.

    Flowing from this, the House issued the non-negotiable decree that President Goodluck Jonathan fired the lady. Aso Rock’s understanding of the position of the legislators was that their resolution was advisory and not binding on the president.

    In order to make it clear that this was not friendly advice but an order, the legislators have turned the screws tighter by making no provision whatsoever for SEC in the 2013 budget. They have even gone a step further by warning the president not to think of funding commission – even from private sources.

    Let’s explain this by saying that the commission has not been scrapped; but it will only receive funding again after the DG had been kicked out of office.

    First, what we have here is a shameful instance of a law being tailor-made to target an individual. Secondly, we are confronted not by the regular saber-rattling of legislators, but an unapologetic attempt to blackmail the president to do their bidding. I wish there was a more elegant way to put it, but blackmail has an unmistakable smell to it.

    If the House had stopped by publishing the report of its committee indicting Oteh, and left Jonathan to deal with the moral burden of leaving in office an individual whose reputation had been damaged by the legislators’ findings, most people would have backed them.

    Unfortunately, in this case as in many others, we see lawmakers engaging in overreach. The legislators of the Fourth Republic are particularly guilty of this tendency. They are not the sort of lawmakers Nigerians knew in the First, Second or Third Republics, but a hybrid variety that see themselves straddling legislative and executive roles.

    This crisis of identity, and confusion over what their true role should be, comes across even in the language of their engagement with agents of the executive branch. And so from day to day we’re regaled with reports of the “summons” issued to one minister, or the latest threat to arrest the head of some government parastatal for tardiness in responding to legislative invitations.

    In 1999, the first class of Fourth Republic legislators prepared the foundation for the crisis we see today, by manipulating the budget to introduce what they called “community projects.”

    These were not altruistic or well-thought out development projects, but rather showy, populist undertakings to create the impression that the lawmakers had “done something” for their people during their tenure. The injection of these extraneous items altered the shape of the federal budgets designed by the executive, and provided the ground for the earliest fights between then President Olusegun Obasanjo and the lawmakers.

    Unfortunately for our democracy, the class of 1999 successfully blackmailed the executive, and every president ever since has had to live with the nightmare of legislators who do not know where their territory begins and ends.

    Elsewhere what happens is that legislators lobby the executive branch to site choice projects in their constituencies in exchange for support for the administration’s legislative agenda. The lawmaker then gets credit for attracting such a project to his constituency. It is what the Americans refer to as “pork barrel” bills.

    Returning to Oteh, the demands of the House actually put the National Assembly as an institution in an awkward position. Let’s not forget that the Senate cleared her in 2010 and declared she was fit for the role. So if anyone deserves flak for her appointment it is the senators who approved her appointment three years ago.

    The lawmakers who are always quick to assert their independence, should accord that same right to the executive. Oteh is an appointee of the president and it is only fair and proper that he be allowed to determine whether she is up to the demands of her office. The sort of bald-faced pressure being put on Jonathan to sack the lady is an unseemly abuse of legislative power.

    What they are doing may not be the best for separation of powers in our democracy, yet the legislators may just get their way. The president has displayed over time, a tendency to buckle in the face of the least pressure from ornery lawmakers.

    He doesn’t have the bloody-mindedness of an Obasanjo who will sometimes dare his interlocutors to tip the whole democratic project into the ravine, rather than succumb to blatant blackmail. And that is bad news for Oteh.

    At a time when she thinks its peace and safety, he will dump her to appease the gods of Apo, just as he did with Dr. Harold Demuren, the erstwhile Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). Following the Dana Air crash last year, the legislators demanded his head on a platter. In due season, Jonathan duly obliged.

  • Reps urge Jonathan to sack Oteh

    Reps urge Jonathan to sack Oteh

    The House of Representatives on Thursday urged President Goodluck Jonathan to implement its resolution by sacking the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Arunma Oteh.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the house, after investigating the near collapse of the capital market, resolved not to have anything to do with the commission.

    The house promised that it would not rescind its decision on the issue unless Oteh was sacked for not having the minimum professional qualification prescribed for the office of the Director-General of SEC.

    The resolution followed a motion moved by Rep. Ahmed Datti (CPC-Kaduna) which was unanimously adopted.

    Leading the debate, Datti said the motion urging the removal of Oteh was because her appointment was a gross violation of the commission’s Act.

    He said that Oteh did not possess the minimum professional qualification prescribed for appointment to be the head of SEC.

    Datti said most of the resolutions of the house, though products of motions, hinged on fundamental public duty placed on public officers by the constitution under the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy.

    The legislator stressed that the executive had adopted the approach of picking and choosing the implementation of resolutions of the Senate on the dismissal of Abdulrasheed Maina.

    He noted that the resolution on Oteh, which was passed much later, was still being disregarded, in spite of a long pending motion on her removal.

    “Resolutions bordering on the breach of extant legislation should not be treated with levity, as such tends to portray government in bad light,” he said.

     

  • I’m ready to die for SEC– Oteh

    I’m ready to die for SEC– Oteh

    Ms. Arunma Oteh, Director General, Security and Exchange Commission, (SEC) who has been in the news over her leadership style was an award recipient in Anambra State recently. In this interview with Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, she speaks on development at the stock market and other sundry issues

     

    Your award as the most historic woman of the year 2012 is coming at a time when you are receiving lots of attacks

    I have received a lot of attack recently, but when I got the letter that the Anambra State Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists wanted to honour me as the most historic woman of the year, I almost shed tears. This is because despite what people are doing to bring you down, there are people somewhere who are appreciative of the good work we do.

    I am not afraid to say that I will always do the right thing as the Director-General of the Security and Exchange Commission. I am not moved by what people are doing trying to pull me down, so long as I know that I am doing the right thing. In the past, we had a capital market where people wear suits and sit down to steal money belonging to peasants, but when I came in I told myself that all these have got to stop. We must sanitise our capital market and build a trust that will let the poor man put his savings in it and be assured that it will not be stolen by people. What I am doing at the SEC, I am ready to die for. I’m not afraid to die so long as I am doing the right thing, and I’m very emboldened by the fact that people are watching, no matter the level of conspiracy against one, people are seeing your efforts and at the right time, one will be rewarded for every good work.

    How best could you describe events happening at the SEC?

    A lot is happening and we are trying to grow people’s investment, not by our words but by our actions, and today we have a market that is a world class market. That is why today our equities market, on daily basis, is flocked by values from international investors, which make up 80 percent.

    We Nigerians must enjoy the fruit of our hard work, if market prices are low today, and we have some money to save, we should try and put that money in the market so that it will grow your finances and you will have more money.

    Are there differences between the capital market you met and the capital market we have today?

    We always say at the SEC that, let us learn from the horrible things that happened in the past; our people suffered in the past because there was a lot of misrepresentation.

    Even up to 2010 it was still happening. People were told that their money will just double, and many of our people are crying because they sold their houses, they took their life savings and put them there. That is not what we are saying today. We are saying if you want to invest, you must ask questions. It is not enough for us to just tell the people that once you put your money, it will double. Ask questions, if you are told it is Lever Brothers or Nestle, you will know they have a distribution network everywhere and you will make enquiries to know about the market price.

    And you must go to meet financial experts and ask them questions before you invest. It is your right to ask questions, but please don’t wait for people to come from other countries and invest today and when you are ready to invest, it would be that prices have gone to the top. Last year when we went to Rivers State, the deputy governor there told us a story. He said his father told him that if you have N10,000 and you cannot save, when you earn N100million you will still not be able to save.

    What that means is that you do not have to wait until you have all the money before you begin to save money.

    How much have you done to spread the gospel of savings to Nigerians?

    Here at SEC, we value journalists a lot. I cannot talk enough about the importance of saving and investing, but those of you who write, who present programmes on TV and on radio probably do more in sending the message about saving and investing, about borrowing long term, listing your companies on the Nigeria Stock market.

    For us it is very important that we partner with journalists. One of the new initiatives we have for journalists is that we will have a Journalists Academy this year.

    This is because we feel that the more that you are familiar with the Nigerian capital market, the more that you can report back, so when we publicise about the Journalists Academy through the Anambra Council, we encourage journalists in Anambra to apply in your numbers. I think it is on 10th of December that we are going to have the Journalists Academy, but most importantly, next week, we will be publishing a new initiative which we call the SEC award for Journalists, it is an essay competition on the Nigerian capital market, and I encourage you to try and participate in this essay in your numbers.

    Saving and investing is very critical to building a nation, and no nation can develop without a strong capital market, if you want medium to long-term money for businesses, it comes from the capital market. One, it creates wealth and helps you to train up your children, so that you can retire and still live well. Everything that is negative in the economy affects the capital market because capital market is about the state of the economy.

    What effect do you think that the flood this year will have on the economy?

    I feel that Nigeria as led by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, a number of very senior private and public sector officials who have been constituted to scout for money to help these people, will do a good work and help save whatever negative impact it may have on the economy. We have Nigerians who have lost their homes and means of livelihood because of the flood, but I know that efforts are in place to see how they can be rehabilitated. This also has to do with agriculture in the country as most farmlands have been submerged and we are hopeful that the federal government will support agriculture. As you know, the federal government is very supportive of agriculture, as agriculture provides 42 percent of our GDP and also 70 percent of employment and, therefore, when something like flood happens, it is important that urgent steps be taken.

    Most companies especially in the South East do not get quoted on the stock market, what is the reason for this?

    Traditionally, Igbos are known for investing in their children, in real estate and in growing their businesses. I think there are areas where we can learn and do better. We must know that if we must only control our businesses, we will not grow as fast as we hope. We have a town like Nnewi that has some of the greatest businesses in Nigeria, and some of those businesses need to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, so that they can be like Honeywell, Dangote and the rest. We need to encourage our businessmen to move from the culture of controlling their businesses themselves and let others buy into them, so that they can grow. But Igbo people are known for enterprise, but we need to step our games up.

  • Oteh to investors: put your money in healthy banks

    Oteh to investors: put your money in healthy banks

    The Director-General, Securities  and  Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Aruma Oteh, has warned those interested in investing in bank stocks to put their money in healthy banks.

    Speaking at the Learning Series of SEC yesterday in Abuja, Ms Oteh said it was necessary for investors to put their money in healthy banks, as the SEC has already taken “a decision to protect the banking sector and by extension, the country’s economy.”

    She explained that the capital market burst was because “people did not ask enough questions, that’s why some companies’ CEOs mismanaged their money.”

    Ms.Oteh cautioned that investors should exercise discipline and make sure they manage and invest their funds wisely, adding that “any stakeholder  who does nothing until a company folds up is not a dilligient investor.”

    She said annual general meetings are very important and should not be ignored by investors as they offer platforms for investors to be acquainted with development in their companies.

    She said the Commission has set up another division under the collective investment services departments that focuses on registering venture capitalists.

    She said over the next few years, SEC would focus on venture capitalists because it recognises its importance in  helping entrepreneurs to put their business ideas into reality, adding that  SEC is hoping to scale up the country in terms of financial planning.

    She said the Commission is working closely with SMIDAN, and has also  made efforts to operationalise the National Investment Protection Fund. SEC has ”worked closely with the Nigerian Stock Exchange to revamp the fund which has been dormant until now,” she stated.

    Ms. Oteh said 142 firms out of the 214 listed, have complied with the corporate governance code of the Commission, adding that SEC is not just interested in listing requirements, but also pro listing them.

    Oteh said SEC has been very clear on the issue of integrity in building a world class market in spite of what she called “attacks on SEC” and on her person.

  • SEC crisis: Staff union gives Oteh ultimatum

    SEC crisis: Staff union gives Oteh ultimatum

    The face-off between the staff and management of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) further deteriorated yesterday in Abuja as the staff of the commission protested the redeployment of a contract staff to head the department of internal control, accusing the director general, Ms Arunma Oteh of highhandedness and tyranny.

    The staff of SEC accused the management of the Commission of insincerity in the way it redeployed staff of the commission early this month and sought to know the reason for the deployment of security operatives to the commission.

    The workers staged the protest within the premises of the commission yesterday, chanting “Oteh must go!!!” with some of their placards reading “no to sole administrator-ship,” and “no to tyranny and highhandedness.” The protesting workers gave the director General of the commission Ms Arunma Oteh a two weeks ultimatum to address their demands or face their wrath.

    In a letter to management of SEC, the staff union had stated that “Mr Omotayo who is one of the unregularized staff who once served as a technical adviser to the DG was redeployed to head the Internal Control Department. This in our opinion creates a morale issue as Mr Omotayo by virtue of his former position would not constitute a sufficient check to executive or administrative excesses. His redeployment should therefore be checked.”

    The workers letter noted that “it is on record that the Board extract of 56th Board meeting directed that if by 31st July, 2012 the contract staff of the commission was not regularized, their appointment should be terminated. This directive has not been complied with, rather a counter directive was given by the DG to the finance and account department to pay up their remuneration up to August 2012 without any directive suppressing the earlier directive of the board.”

    Addressing journalists, the chairman of the union, Mr. Muhammed Salihu said that contract staff had been deployed by the DG to head the Internal Audit Department and SEC Training School, among others.

    “We have 21 contract staff; all of them placed in certain positions that are unbearable and against public service policy. It is unheard of that you make such a person a senior manager. You have somebody who graduated in 1994 and you make him a deputy director, we have 24 of them,” Salihu said.

    He said the union had written to Oteh to have a meeting with her adding that the DG issued a query instead of calling for a meeting.

    Salihu added that the union would give the management two weeks to work things out to ensure peace and harmony in the commission.

    He lamented that it was unfortunate that the DG had decided to adopt sole administration pattern to administer the commission.

    Salihu urged government to intervene in the situation to help develop the capital market in the country.’

  • Reps insist Oteh must go

    Reps insist Oteh must go

    The House of Representatives yesterday took President Goodluck Jonathan head-on over the re-instatement of the Director General of the Security Exchange Commission, Ms. Arunma Oteh.

    Members insisted that the resolution of the House which requested the President to sacked the Director General should be honoured.

    The House also yesterday blacklisted the Director General saying none of its committees would have anything to do with her anymore.

    The House requested the President “to implement the resolution of the House of Representatives on the near collapse of the Capital Market particularly aspects of the resolution requesting the removal of Ms Arunmah Oteh as the Director General of Security and Exchange Commission for being unqualified by law to serve as Director General of security and Exchange Commission, as contained in Sections 3(2)(a) and section 38(I)(b) 2 and 3, and section 315 of the Investments and Securities Act (ISA), 2007.”

    The Green Chamber also resolved “that the House of Representatives or Any of its committees shall henceforth cease to accord any recognition or deal with Ms Arunmah Oteh as Director General of Security and Exchange Commission.”

    Lawmakers gave the House Committee on Legislative Compliance 14 days to report the level of compliance of the Executive with the resolution.

    The resolution was sequel to the adoption of a motion by a member, Ossai Nicholas Ossai titled: “Need for the President to enforce the resolution of the House of Representatives on the Investigation into the near collapse of the Capital Market.”