Due to several petitions to the House of Representatives on alleged irregularities in the nationalisation of banks, the Committee on Capital Market and Financial Institutions has disclosed that the matter would be investigated.
Chairman of the Committee,Hon Herman Hembe, while speaking on the issue at the weekend, said most of the complaints had to do with selling to the lowest bidder.
“We have ‘received quite a number of petitions from concerned Nigerians who know what is going wrong and are worried enough to come to this House. We have found out that rules and conventions are not being followed in the merger process, that there are situations where investors made very high bids for certain banks only for these banks to be sold for far less”,he said.
Going further, he added that ‘the capital market needs a total overhaul of its organs and structures, from the apex regulatory body-the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to the IST, the NSE, the issuing House, Stockbrokers, Capital Market reporters and the Investing public.
“The committee in its oversight functions intends to legislate, by the review of the ISA, into effective functionality of all facilities and infrastructure that will provide enabling policies and environment for a vibrant and conducive capital market recovery and growth. In so doing, this House would have guaranteed good returns to businesses, business owners of all kind and to the government itself” he said.
The Committee had last week said it would review the legal and regulatory framework for the nationalisation of banks in the country in order to protect shareholders’ investment.
The lawmaker decried the rush with which the the banks were sold, a situation which he alleged led to breach of rules guiding such commercial transactions
“We will deploy all powers vested in this parliament to see that the right thing is done in all cases to restore investor confidence and re-order our capital market”, he emphasised.
Speaking on their recent inauguration, Hembe said it was ‘a call to duty; a time for quick decisive action that should be devoid of all political sentiments. This is because the continuous stagnation of our capital markets means a continuous stagnation in financial doldrums. As long as our investments in the market continue to lose value by the day, the more our future earnings are being eroded’ .
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