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		PProcess is Important in Democratic Ideals - Onyiuke By Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke

	Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, Former DG, NSE

	Preamble I thank the honourable members of the Capital Market Committee for the invitation to this hearing, as it affords me an opportunity to tell my story to Nigerians in the wake of unprecedented malicious disinformation about my person and The Nigerian Stock Exchange. Unfortunately, on the basis of the coordinated and sustained disinformation, I have been made to suffer incalculable personal loss and The Stock Exchange has been brought to disrepute. Mass media editorials and all manner of opinions have been expressed without commentators knowing the kernel of the issues at stake. Not even the House Committee is exempt in this regard, given that I have been invited in my personal capacity as "ex-Director General" of The Nigerian Stock Exchange to explain an issue that should ordinarily be addressed by the Council (Board) of The Exchange. Also, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has been invited to this hearing in his personal capacity when in fact he should be leading the Council of The Exchange to this hearing. I have been addressed as former Director General when there has not been any examination of the process deployed by the authorities in managing the situation that is the subject of this proceeding. Attending this hearing is Mr. Emmanuel Ikhazobor who is described as the "Interim Administrator" of The Stock Exchange. It was reported in the media that I have been relieved of my position as Director General of The Exchange when the letter The Exchange received from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was a directive to the Council of The Exchange to effect my removal. As at today, the Council of The Exchange is yet to meet to decide on the SEC directive. Yet, the same SEC that issued this directive has deployed the worst kind of abuse of state power in a democracy to abduct the Secretary to the Council of The Exchange and invaded the premises of The Exchange in Lagos with heavily armed state security personnel to effect my purported removal from office. The issue of due process is especially important in the context of democratic ideals and the sacred duty of the legislature to protect and advance civil liberty. We must not gloss over the issue of due process because what happened last week at The Nigerian Stock Exchange is a precedent that put every Nigerian at risk. As the saying goes, ask not for whom the bell tolls, for it tolls for every one of us. The Issues The developments alluded to by the Committee as the basis for this proceeding, I presume, are the allegations of financial mismanagement made against the Management of The Nigerian Stock Exchange by, ironically, Alhaji Aliko Dangote who until recently was the President and Chairman of Council of The Exchange, having served in the Council as First VicePresident. Also, I presume that this hearing was called in the wake of the purported changes in the leadership of The Exchange as announced by SEC. I appreciate the gravity of these developments, which raise fundamental questions about acceptable behaviour and adherence to the Rule of Law, and the incidence of these on the operations of the capital market, which thrives within a framework of rules and regulation. It is not for nothing that stock market operators are called City Gentlemen. And in the context of the recent developments in the capital market, operators and regulators of the market must not be allowed to go away with the belief that acceptable behaviour and adherence to rules and regulation apply only to other people and are only a crutch to be leaned upon when it is convenient. Alleged Financial Mismanagement at the Exchange It must be placed on record that the genesis of current disquiet in the capital market is in the public petition by Alhaji Aliko Dangote alleging financial impropriety against the Management of The Nigerian Stock Exchange. It was a public petition because the petition was simultaneously released to SEC and the media, with followup press statements by the petitioner. In the context of acceptable behaviour, I invite honourable members of the Capital Market Committee to note that the Council of The Exchange is not aware of the allegations made by Alhaji Dangote, in which case his recourse to SEC and the media may be considered hasty, premature and irresponsible, considering his high office and assuming there is substance to his claims. I wish to stress that as a member of the Council of The Nigerian Stock Exchange at the time all the accounts in question were considered and approved, Alhaji Dangote never brought any of the allegations to the attention of the Council for discussion or investigation. This is especially pertinent as his membership of the Council covered the period during which he alleged there was financial imprudence that, according to him, "has brought The Exchange to the verge of financial bankruptcy". Even though the Management of The Exchange has responded to SEC’s questions on Alhaji Dangote’s allegation, I believe that it would be appropriate for Alhaji Dangote to answer to questions on the accounts of The Exchange in his capacity as former President and Chairman of Council and First VicePresident. This is particularly so in the context of the role of the Board of Directors (Council) in the administration of a company and the role of the Chairman of the Board. It is the height of irony that the Chairman of Council, Also, honourable members of the Capital Market Committee are invited to note that the accounts in question were prepared by Council (of which the petitioner was a member) in accordance with the responsibilities of the Council under the Companies and Allied Matters Act; the accounts passed through audit without any qualification; the accounts have been presented to the members of The Exchange who passed it without any reservations; and the accounts have been filed with the Corporate Affairs Commission as required under the statute. Furthermore, these same accounts have been subjected to a special audit by a team of SEC inspectors and external consultants without any indicting outcome. It is curious that SEC would rely on the unsubstantiated allegations of one man for its disruptive intervention in the management of The Nigerian Stock Exchange when its previous exhaustive investigation of the same subject matter came up with nothing indicting on the Management of the Exchange. Meanwhile, I wish to leave honourable members of the Committee with this insight into the expenditure profile of The Exchange in the 4year period (from 2006 to end of 2009) during which The Nigerian Stock Exchange was alleged "to have grossed a total income of N42.2 billion with a surplus of only N5.6 billion, representing 13% growth over the 4year period". In the prevailing culture of disinformation and selective perception, the public have not been told that over the same 4-year period the Nigerian Stock Exchange carried out major infrastructure upgrades and investments such as: Buyout of 60 per cent interest of Daily Times Plc in Naira Properties Ltd (owners of the Stock Exchange Building); Installation of two 1,500KVA Generators for the Stock Exchange Building; Redesign and upgrade of the WorldClass Head Office Trading Floor commissioned by President Umar Musa Yar’Adua, GCFR in October 2007; Design and construction of a Data Centre and Power Bank to guaranty regular and uninterrupted trading; Resumption of the development of 14storey commercial office building in PortHarcourt, Rivers State; the construction work has reached the 8th floor as of today; Commencement of phased refurbishment work at the Stock Exchange House, which since 1983 when it was commissioned, had not been refurbished: Installation of new lifts at the 23storey Stock Exchange House in Lagos Refurbishment of the Central Air Conditioning System for the 23storey Stock Exchange House in Lagos Investment roadshows that enhanced the profile of Nigeria in the international investment community; and Opening of new branch offices in Benin, Ilorin, Uyo, Onitsha, Abeokuta, Owerri and Bauchi, among others. See Appendix D for complete project details. It is misleading to ignore these major achievements in profiling the major cost pattern of The Exchange as "salaries, pension, travel and marketing". Salaries and associated pension costs increased significantly over the period because the pension scheme was backdated by 20 years as approved by the Council of The Exchange to accommodate the retired DirectorGeneral and Deputy Director-General and other retired staff who had contributed to the building of The Exchange to the enviable height it currently occupies in the economy. Finally, on the allegation of financial impropriety, I wish to emphasise that the Management of The Exchange never exceeded budgetary approval by Council and if there is need for any explanation on the published accounts of an organisation, the Board, led by the Chairman, has the primary duty of offering insight, working with the Chief Financial Officer of the organisation. In this instance, I was neither the Chairman of the Council nor the Chief Financial Officer of the organisation. The Committee may therefore consider inviting the entire Council of The Exchange and the Chief Financial Officer for further insight into the finances of the organisation.

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