Nigeria Content Online

An assessment of
the administration of the interim head of the Nigerian Stock Exchange
(NSE), Emmanuel Ikazoboh, after 100 days in office, produced mixed
results amongst some market operators.

While some analysts
said Mr. Ikazoboh’s administration may not have done much, it has
however, continued to challenge quoted companies on quick submission of
their financial results, which helps investment decision.

Meanwhile, some shareholders said his 100 days in office “has not been merrier” to them.

Olugbenga Emmanuel,
a finance analyst at WealthZone Company, a fund management firm, said,
“One thing you cannot take away from his tenure is the rate and manner
in which (quoted) companies are presenting their quarterly and annual
financial accounts to the investing public. Even those that cannot meet
up have had to write the Exchange for permission.”

Mr. Emmanuel said
in the past, companies abuse such, adding that “portfolio managers
don’t see reports until we cry and shout on these companies. And such
delay in results ends up affecting our investment decisions.”

Market experiment

But a stockbroker,
who pleaded anonymity, said some of the current decisions taken by Mr.
Ikazoboh’s administration “suggest that he is only experimenting with
the market and taking orders from the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC).”

Sunny Nwosu, the
national coordinator of the Independent Shareholders Association of
Nigeria (ISAN), said the Stock Exchange has continued to work in
phobia.

“They don’t know
whether they are doing the right thing or the wrong thing. So as a
result of that, they’ve been very jittery, and that is why they
continue to make more mistakes,” Mr. Nwosu said.

He said it is a
mistake on the part of the NSE to plan the introduction of a 10 percent
appreciation or depreciation in equity prices.

“All they are
trying to do is to say during our period we were able to move the
capitalisation of the capital market to the greater height; whereas, on
the same line, it could pull down and erase every gain that the stock
exchange is presently enjoying,” he added.

Shareholders not happy

Mr. Nwosu said the
other negative side of Mr. Ikazoboh’s tenure is the merger of Benue
Cement Company (BCC) with Dangote Cement.

“BCC was consumed
by a company not known on the list of quoted investment in capital
market. In doing that, the shareholders of BCC were all cheated,” he
said.

He said
shareholders were never informed about the merger at the company’s
annual general meeting two months after Dangote Group got a court order
for a merger with BCC.

“The process simply was manipulative and a breach of the normal merger procedure,” he added.

“It was unfortunate
that the Stock Exchange led by Ikazoboh allowed that to happen. He has
compromised every standard trying to achieve a higher capitalisation.
Even the almighty SEC also allowed that to happen. It’s a very bad
example of his tenure. His 100 days has not been merrier to us,” Mr.
Nwosu further said.

Market down

Meanwhile, the
value of equities at the capital market, which plunged last Friday,
further depreciated at the close of Monday’s trading. The Exchange
market capitalisation closed lower at N8.079 trillion, after opening
the day at N8.100 trillion, reflecting 0.25 percent decline or N21
billion losses.