The House of Representatives on Thursday asked the Federal Government to sack the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms Arunma Oteh, and prosecute her.
On another ground, Oteh and the Governor of the CBN, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, were recommended for prosecution for contempt.
The panel said they refused to produce documents that would have assisted the investigation in breach of “Sections 4&11(b) of the Legislative Houses Powers and Privileges Act and Section 89 of the 1999 Constitution.”
The lawmakers gave the directive in their adoption of report of the House ad hoc committee which probed the near-collapse of the capital market.
The report was debated and adopted on Thursday, barely 24 hours after the Federal Government recalled Oteh from the suspension slammed on her on June 12 by the Board of the SEC which indicted her for mishandling the Project 50 of the commission.
The report, which aslo faulted Oteh’s appointment as DG on grounds of qualification, said she lacked the competence to manage human and material resources. Oteh was also found to have lied on oath before the panel on the ownership of nationalised banks as well as “regulatory failure in some of the recent mergers, acquisitions and approvals of transactions by SEC.”
Also to be prosecuted for the same offence is the MD of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi.
For their roles in the banking sector crisis, which led to the CBN intervening in eight banks in 2009, the panel recommended a former Governor of the apex bank, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, for “further investigation.” Others to be investigated for the same reason are the Deputy Governor (Banking Supervision), Mr. Tunde Lemo; and a former deputy governor, Mr. Ignatius Imala.
The panel also recommended the prosecution of Sanusi over nationalisation of AfriBank, Bank PHB and Spring Bank by the EFCC, but the House stepped down the recommendation pending the outcome of consultation between the panel and the Committee on Banking/Currency.
One member, Mr. Abubakar Momoh, however warned that such consultations should be done transparently to avoid a repeat of scandal witnessed during the consideration of the fuel subsidy probe report.
Surprisingly, the Presidency is still defending Ms Oteh as if there is a special interest. Spokesman to President Jonathan, Reuben Abati, said the accusation that his boss was shielding corruption with the recall of Oteh lacked merit.
“If you look at the content of that letter issued by the office of the Secretary to Government of the Federation, government indicated that under her (Oteh’s) watch, there were a number of lapses in terms of how procedures were managed.
The letter strongly advises her to pay more attention to the management of procedures.
“Due process has therefore been followed; fair hearing has been allowed. And on the basis of the recommendation and findings of independent auditors, government has taken this decision. The allegation of shielding corruption cannot stand in this matter.”
Also to be prosecuted with Oteh for the same offence are a Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Kingsley Moughalu; and the Managing Director of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, Mr. Umar Ibrahim.
However, the House have directed the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, to prosecute the officials for breach of Section 10 of the Legislative Houses Powers and Privileges Act “for giving false evidence under oath to the committee.”
While the officials had told the panel that the nationalised banks were owned by the Asset Management Company of Nigeria, it was later discovered that private individuals were the directors of the banks.
