The senate has confirmed Dr. Emomotimi Agama as the director-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The Senate also approved the nomination of Frana Chukwuogor as executive commissioner (Legal and Enforcement) Bola Ajomale as executive commissioner (Operations) and Mrs. Samiya Usman as executive commissioner (Corporate Services).
The confirmation of the appointments by the upper legislative chamber followed the presentation of the report of the Committee on capital markets by its chair, Senator Osita Izunaso.
Izunaso stated that the nominees met the requirements to be appointed by President Bola Tinubu, saying “that they were eminently qualified for the positions. They passed all security checks and answered relevant questions during the screening.”
After his presentation, the senate voted and confirmed the nominees. The deputy senate president, Barau Jibrin asked the appointees to carry out their jobs diligently for the betterment of the country.
“They should do their work in the best way they can to turn around the economy of Nigeria. They should do their best to use that institution to promote the wellbeing of this country.”
President Bola Tinubu on April 19 this year appointed Agama as the DG of SEC to take over from Lamido Yuguda. His appointment as SEC DG has been hailed by capital market stakeholders who described him as a technocrat that would boost the birthing of the Tinubu administration’s $1trillion economy.
Speaking shortly after his clearance by the Committee last week, Agama, a technocrat and insider of the commission said “he will accelerate the development of the capital market in a manner that would boost wealth creation, attract investments and create jobs for Nigerians.”
According to him, his team was appointed by President Tinubu to change the narrative of the capital market and reposition it to the path that would boost economic growth.
He said, “we are bringing on board innovation, development. We are going to change the narrative of the Nigerian capital market. We are going to turn it around. That is the essence of our appointment by Mr. President. With this team, we assure Nigerians that we’re going to do the best that the President has the desire to do.
“So, we should all wait to see what is going to happen. Our desire is to move this market forward. And to help in achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy in the shortest possible time.”
He described the capital market as the barometer of the economy, noting that the Commission would implement innovative policies and programmes that will create world-class companies in such a way that will ensure redistribution of wealth.