Uduk Assumes Duty as Acting DG of SEC

The new acting Director General (DG) of Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) Mary Uduk, yesterday assumed duty as the boss of the capital market apex regulator. The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, had last Friday, appointed Uduk as the new acting DG and redeployed Dr. Abdul Zubair, who had held that position since late November last year.

The minister also appointed Reginald Karawusa as acting Executive Commissioner, Legal and Enforcement; Isiyaku Tilde, acting Executive Commissioner, Operations and Henry Roland Adekunle, acting Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services.

Adeosun had explained that Uduk’s appointment had become necessary to ensure effective regulation of the capital market. A source in SEC told THISDAY that Uduk had assumed office.

“Although there was no formal ceremony but from the body language of the acting DG, she is hitting the ground running. Being an insider, she is aware of the enormous task and she has already settled down to ensure she does not disappoint market stakeholders,” the source said.

A shareholder and member of Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Moses Igbrude had said Uduk and her team should ensure effective regulation of the market.

“The truth is that confidence in the market has been very low since the suspension of Mounir Gwarzo. Zubair, who was acting before last Friday, did not do much, probably due to lack of a board. But now that the minister has also appointed three commissioners with Uduk as DG, they must work hard to restore investors’ confidence. But the minister should go a step further by prevailing on the federal government to constitute the board of SEC,” Igbrude said.

According to him, given the experiences of the Uduk and the three commissioners, they have the capacity to address all issues affecting investor confidence and ensure more participation in the market.

“Having opened this year on positive to maintain the growth recorded last year, the market has remained very bearish in the last two months and one of the major reasons is the lack of direction from the market regulator. But I am confident the situation will change for the better now,” he added.

Also, a senior stockbroker, who spoke to THISDAY on the condition of anonymity said that the ultimate catalyst the market needed was a board for SEC. “The federal government, should, without delay constitute a board for the commission. So long as the commission is without a board, investor confidence will remain low and the regulator will lack the moral justification to enforce rules that have to do with corporate governance issues among others,” the broker said.