President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Senate to confirm a former director at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Yuguda, as the new Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
In a letter read out by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, at the start of plenary on Tuesday, President Buhari also sought confirmation of three nominees- Reginald C. Karausa, Ibrahim D. Boyi and Obi Joseph as full-time Commissioners of the Commission.
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The letter read in part:
Pursuant to Section 3 and 5(1) of the Investment and Securities Act 2007, I write to request for confirmation by the Senate, the appointment of the following four nominees as Director-General and Commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Their CVs are attached herewith.
The nominees will be referred to the appropriate committee for screening on another legislative day.
President Buhari’s request is coming almost three years after the suspension of Mounir Gwarzo as the Director-General of SEC.
The former Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, suspended Gwarzo as the DG of the Commission for allegedly approving the sum of N104 million for himself as severance package for being a former Commissioner of SEC.
Gwarzo was also accused of awarding contracts to members of his family and friends; a violation of the rules guiding the Commission, which he denied.
He was subsequently charged but the allegations were struck out by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The National Industrial Court also reinstated Gwarzo as SEC DG but he did not return to the office.
Although only the senate has the legal backing to remove the SEC DG, section 8(2) of the Investments and Securities Act, 2007 states that the President may at any time and upon the recommendation of the Minister remove a person to whom subsection (1) of this section applies: Provided no full-time member of the Board of the Commission shall be removed from office without the approval of the Senate.
