Arunma Oteh left her position as head of the Nigerian
Securities and Exchange Commission after five years leading market regulation
in Africa’s biggest economy.
She left office on Jan. 7 and an acting director general
will be appointed, Yakubu Olaleye, a spokesman for the Abuja-based agency, said
by phone.
Under Oteh, the capital market “witnessed significant
product innovation, improved listing rules, landmark bond-market reforms, the
introduction of exchange-traded funds and widening of participation in the
markets,” the SEC said in a statement on its website.
Oteh became head of the regulator in January 2010 as the market
recovered from a 2009 financial crisis triggered by loans given to stock
speculators and fuel importers in Africa’s biggest oil producer. The value of the
bourse’s main index reached a peak of more than 13 trillion naira ($72 billion)
last year before tumbling to 9.45 billion naira on Jan. 9. Nigerian stocks slid
the most in the world last week as crude prices tumbled below $50 a barrel.
Oteh didn’t answer calls made to her mobile phone or return e-mailed
requests for comment.
In June 2012, she was sent on
“compulsory leave” while the SEC investigated allegations of mismanagement
following an audit of spending on the market’s 50th anniversary. She was recalled
by President Goodluck Jonathan a month later after external audit didn’t find
illegal activities committed by her.
Oteh had created enemies by firing Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke as head of
Nigerian Stock Exchange, saying the action was needed to curb “poor corporate
governance,” manipulation of the market and financial waste. She cited cases in
which hundreds of Rolex watches were bought as gifts and 1.7 billion naira was
shared among employees of the bourse.
In October 2013, Oteh said the stock exchange needs oil and gas, power
and telecommunications companies to list to meet its goal of reaching a market
value of $1 trillion by 2016. South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index
market value of 9.57 trillion rand ($832 billion)
“She was in a hurry to see Nigeria achieve a world-class capital market
that would drive development,” the SEC said.
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