The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Market, Sen. Osita Izunaso, confirmed on Tuesday that the National Assembly had transmitted the Investments and Securities Bill (ISB) 2024 to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for assent.
Izunaso, who gave this hint during the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) budget defence session at the Red Chamber in Abuja, said that lawmakers expected the President to sign the bill into law within the next 30 days.
Specifically, he said: “The Senate President has signed the Investments and Securities Bill 2024 and it has now moved to the Executive for assent. We have 30 days for that to happen and we expect that the President will assent to it”.
The lawmaker also maintained that the Committee had sent a written letter to the Minister of Finance to include a N10 billion special fund for investor education in the capital market as part of the 2025 budget.
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In his remarks during the budget defence session, another legislator, Sen. Anthony Yaro commended the Commission for the approach adopted by it in 2024, adding that with the positive happenings like the ISB and the reduction in deductions, the SEC is expected to perform better this year.
He projected: “I believe these developments will boost your performance in 2025. We know your capacity and what you can do, but you need to do more.”
In his presentation, the commission’s Director-General, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, thanked the National Assembly lawmakers for the support and contribution of the Committee which, he said, had moved the market forward in 2024, adding that Nigeria’s capital market was one of the best performing markets globally last year.
He said: “Your support has gingered the market, there is a new spirit and that support has assisted us to achieve what we achieved together.
“Last year, we wished that the Federal Government’s 50% deduction would be reduced to 20% but we could not achieve that in 2024.
“We are glad to say that with the intervention of the committee and the Chairman, the Minister has signed the reduction of the deduction from 50% to 20%. We are hopeful that the implementation will take effect from March 1”, the Director-General added.
Agama pointed out that the 2024 budget was efficiently implemented stressing that while the commission’s projected income was N22.4 billion, its gross earnings totalleds N26.9 billion, representing a 20.34% surplus.
The Director-General said: “We achieved 100% and went above it by 20%. Expenditures for the period was N20.8 billion while N12.68 billion went to deductions. Our net surplus was then N2.5 billion”.
On the reductions in penalties collected in 2024, Agama maintained that the role of the commission was to encourage market participants to comply with laid down rules and regulations rather than enforcing collection of penalties
The capital market regulator clarified that penalties were usually charged when participants do not comply adding that the reduction is due to high level of compliance in the market, adding that “if you prepare participants and they comply, penalties will certainly be reduced. That reduction means the market is beginning to comply which increases efficiency.”
Agama explained that the capital market had been operating a disclosure regime rather than a merit regime such that “every company and director has a responsibility for figures that disclose to the public. It is our responsibility to monitor the same to ensure that documents provided to members of the public are accurate. If they do not meet standards, such institutions will be penalized.”
In his contribution to the 2024 budget performance, Umeh expressed concerns about false information being shared to the investing public by companies in a bid to defraud Nigerians.
The lawmaker said: “I am worried about regulation and enforcement so that companies would not just bring up cooked figures to defraud Nigerians. Let your eyes be on those that use the market to defraud Nigerians.”
Photo Caption
L-R: Director-General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Nigeria), Dr. Emomotimi Agama; and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Market, Sen. Osita Izunaso; after the commission’s budget defence session before the Senate Committee on Capital Market on Tuesday in Abuja
