The Chairman of the Board of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Mr. Olufemi Lijadu, on Wednesday said that a vibrant and policy-driven capital market remained a key factor that could help Nigeria realize her growth potential.
Lijadu, who made this remark while speaking at a breakfast meeting between the board and stakeholders in the capital market in Lagos, pointed out that developing the capital market through appropriate regulatory guidelines and market operations rules aligned with ongoing efforts by government to boost the nation’s non-oil sector growth as an economic development imperative.
He explained: “We all love our country and we need to develop our country. We have potentials and it’s time we start taking steps to realise the potentials.
“We need money to develop our economy and to get the money we need to attract investors both local and foreign. To be able to attract them, our markets need to have the basic rules that is obtainable anywhere else in the world by aligning ourselves with best practices internationally”, Lijadu added.
The SEC board Chairman said operators and the apex regulator had the same interest and expressed the need for all to work together in the overall interest of the market and the economy.
He assured that the commission was ready to listen to operators, to be accessible to them and to work with them, adding that the meeting is the beginning of a partnership that capital market regulatory institution hopes will continue.
According to him, the players are in the market and can give the commission that sensitivity of what the market is feeling as well as the direction to frame policies in the interest of the market.
While expressing delight at the degree of interaction the regulator had had with the market, Lijadu expressed optimism that the collaboration would continue to be better and more strengthened.
He expressed confidence about the level of knowledge and professionalism of stakeholders in the market adding that by the time views and suggestions from the interaction are put together the market would arrive at some solutions.
The Chairman pointed out that the commission and market stakeholders remained key pillars in the current drives by the government to find lasting solutions to national developmental needs by attracting relevant funds to key sectors of the economy.
In her welcome address, the Acting Director General of SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk, commended the stakeholders for the support they extended to the Commission in the period the SEC operated without a board and urged them to continue to support the SEC in its effort to regulate and develop the market.
She recalled: “You are the ones that provide us with guidance as to the direction the market should go because you are the ones at the forefront and know it first hand
“We are happy that we have agreed to be with us here today. We are here today to rub minds with you and further solicit your co-operation in all that we intend to do to deepen the market” Uduk added.
