Nigeria Content Online

Some capital market
operators have raised concern over the delay in the appointment of a
permanent head for the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), despite the
initial promise by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that
the process will be done quickly.

Emmanuel Ikazoboh
has been functioning as an interim head of the NSE since the sack of
Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, the former director general, three months ago.

David Amaechi, an
executive member of the Shareholders Association of Nigeria, said until
the Exchange gets a stable leader, “the market may not enjoy stability
and woo investors.”

Mr. Amaechi said the NSE management and its council need to be sorted out to ensure a smooth running of the Exchange.

A stockbroker at
the Exchange, who would not like to be mentioned, said the capital
market investment “is a long term investment that requires a long term
administrator.” “Investors, especially foreign ones, always look out
for a stable market to put in their money; just like no investor will
put money in a country that has no political stability,” he said.

No end in sight

Finance analysts at
Proshare Nigeria Limited, an investment advisory firm, said the recent
advertorial by Accenture, the recruiting company for the NSE, suggest
that there may be a further delay in the appointment process.

“The NSE today,
functions in effect under a sole administrator-ship of the SEC, without
a determinate date and milestone for delivering on its mandate. This
has its downsides, and it is believed that the administrator may find
himself bugged down with issues not concomitant with the rationale for
the changes that took place, no matter how lofty and altruistic the
natural intentions are,” they said.

After the initial
October 12 deadline for the post, Accenture placed another advert for
the offices of the NSE chief executive officer and three executive
directors.

The analysts said,
“If only for professional etiquette, Accenture should issue a statement
to clarify why it considered it necessary to republish the
advertisement for the (NSE) chief executive officer and executive
director positions.”

They said the Stock
Exchange is supposed to be “an entity, which provides trading
facilities for stock brokers and traders to trade securities, not
internal politics. The NSE has unfortunately found itself doing more of
the latter lately than the former. This ought to be expected and
accepted as a consequence of the way we choose to conduct business in
our clime; yet it does not make it an acceptable practice.”

However, Mr. Ikazoboh recently told journalists that he is not sure when his tenure will expire.

“How long my tenure
will take, I cannot clearly say right now. But I can only say that the
process has started for the selection of a new director general. As
soon as a new DG is in place, I’ll step aside. The process of the
recruitment of the DG is ongoing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lanre Oloyi, SEC’s spokesperson, recently said that the
commission was no longer in the best position to talk on the NSE
recruitment exercise.