When we all gathered at the National Assembly complex last year on the first day of public hearing on what caused the collapse of Nigeria’s capital market, I never thought the hearing would take such a shape. Let me not go into discussing how I felt at the end of the first day of the public hearing. In my own little way of summarising that public hearing, our honourable members of the House of Reps changed the course and made it look like a personalised attack aimed at rubbishing someone’s personality in favour of one “oga at the top”.
All the things that happened then are no more news, but what is now bothering me is the fresh onslaught against Arunma Oteh and her leadership of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) predicated on the repetitive but certainly curious claim that she is not qualified to be the director general of the SEC.
The House of Reps, which had passed a resolution asking President Goodluck Jonathan to effect Oteh’s removal on this basis, has passed yet another resolution asking the president to obey the initial resolution on her removal.
The questions I am humbly asking our honourable members are: Are you justified in your hyperactivity and desperation to have Oteh removed? Are you acting on the side of “truth” and on the right side of the law in demanding that President Jonathan removes her? Have you taken time to look at the provisions of the ISA 2007, the SEC Act, on who qualifies to be the DG of the SEC? Do you know whether Oteh’s credentials and her work experience accord with provisions of the Act? Beyond qualification, how has the capital market fared under Oteh? Are you championing a patriotic cause and upholding the national interest by agitating for Oteh’s removal?
While these questions beg for answers, worried by how this development has escalated since last year, your humble writer has taken bold steps further in this unrewarding profession to access as well examine Arunma Oteh’s curriculum vitae to ascertain whether the House of Reps is actually on track in a chase which has attracted attention of the international community.
Read also: Arunma Oteh and her quest for a world-class capital market
Firstly, let us look at the provisions concerning the credentials of the director general and chairman of the Board of the SEC as contained in Section 3 (2) (a) of the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2007:
“(a) In the case of the Chairman or Director General of the Commission, he is a holder of a university degree or its equivalent with not less than 15 years cognate experience in capital market operations.” This is the position of extant law on who is qualified to be appointed as either the chairman or DG of the SEC. Is there ambiguity in the above provisions? The aspect regarding university degree possession is utterly bereft of any possibility of varying interpretation since there is even no specification of a discipline: “university degree or its equivalent” must mean at least a bachelor’s degree in any discipline.
The other leg of the provision refers to “15 years cognate experience in capital market operations”. The meaning of “capital market operations” is clear and bereft of ambiguity as it relates, in layman’s language, to the gamut of activities connected with buying and selling of shares, bonds and other product offerings and investment opportunities available in the Nigerian capital market. This leaves only “cognate” as the one word which requires definition and clarification and even on this, there is unanimity and consensus on its meaning and essence across the English language spectrum.
Now, what are Oteh’s credentials and how well do they fit the specifications of law? Oteh graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1984 with a first class degree in Computer Science. She was the Best Graduating Student in the Physical Sciences Faculty of the institution in her year of graduation. She additionally obtained the prestigious MBA from the world-famous Harvard Business School. Clearly, her academic credentials are stellar and exceed the expectations of the ISA 2007.
Oteh’s career path is in the global public space but can bear repeating for the purpose of establishing its capital market regulation validity and suitability or otherwise for the office of DG of the SEC in line with both the spirit and letters of the ISA 2007 as described above. She joined CentrePoint Investment (which was reputed as a foremost organisation for training and retraining of topflight professionals in the Nigerian capital market and investment banking industry) in 1985 as corporate finance officer. It was in this capacity that she executed debt and equity offerings in the Nigerian capital markets in addition to developing a merger and acquisition model that was used to value target companies. It was obviously in recognition of her rising profile in capital market operations and investment banking that she was selected to participate in Nigeria’s 1987 National Conference on Debt Conversion. She served on the Resolution Committee of the programme. Some capital market operators who are CEOs of key stock-broking and investment banks joined CenterPoint long after Oteh had exited this veteran institution in 1987.
In 1987, Oteh joined Irving Skinner of London as a consultant with a brief to, among others, identify investment opportunities and develop strategies for foreign firms entering the Nigerian market; develop valuation models to assess the value of debt conversion candidates; analyse Nigerian government investment policies and legislation on foreign direct investment; and structure investments to benefit from favourable governmental policies.
The financial services industry is a sector of which the capital market and or “capital market operations” is only a subset or subsector. If the framers or draftsmen of the ISA 2007 had intended that the chairman or DG of the SEC be versed only in “capital market operations”, they would not have added the provision “15 years cognate experience in capital market operations”; they would have left the provision at “15 years capital market experience”. The inclusion of the word “cognate” vests the requirements for any occupant of the offices of Board chairman or DG of the SEC with greater depth, rigour and versatility in financial matters, including “capital market operations” than would accrue from credentials deriving from a narrower focus on “capital market operations”.
The rationale for this letter and spirit of the drafting is not far-fetched. My little experience in the capital market has shown that there are significant and inevitable inter-linkages between the capital market and other facets of the financial services industry. A regulator needs a good grasp of those linkages to oversight, regulate and develop the capital market. It is precisely this competency that stirs creativity in product innovation and offerings which gives breadth and depth to the capital markets.
It was on account of the star-spangled credentials arising from Oteh’s educational qualifications, career path at the African Development Bank (AfDB) and in the other highly reputable institutions in which she worked that President Yar’Adua appointed her DG of the SEC.
Nigerians are now more discerning. The House should stop its vendetta against Oteh and focus on their work which has been left largely undone: the making of laws for the good governance of Nigeria. The honourable(?) lawmakers should stop usurping the roles of the president and judiciary. They should stop putting out falsehood about Oteh’s qualifications in the media and public domain with intent to deceive Nigerians. They should desist from engaging in actions which are capable of undermining the brilliant rebound of the capital market under Oteh’s stewardship.
