Kemi Adeosun, minister of
finance, has defended the decision to suspend Mounir Gwarzo as director-general
of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Adeosun had set up an
administrative panel to look into some allegations levelled against Gwarzo.
The panel had recommended his
suspension, which the minister upheld.
But Gwarzo attributed the action
to his refusal to stop the forensic audit of Oando in line with the directive
of the minister.
“The minister asked me to stop
the forensic audit of Oando and that I should constitute a committee comprising
the head of legal of SEC, that of the ministry and that of Oando,” Gwarzo had
said at a public hearing organised by the house committee on capital market.
Describing Gwarzo’s allegation as
“laughable”, Adeosun said he was punished because he acted outside the public
service rules.
“As we speak, the forensic audit
is still going on. So, it is mischievous to even suggest that, that led to his
suspension,” she said.
“Mr Mounir was called and given a
right of audience. We believe that our decision to suspend Mr Mounir was just.
We cannot have somebody at the helm of affairs and it is only when the EFCC
arrest them that they can be removed. That’s not fair.
“Such is not good for Nigeria. We
don’t have to wait for officials to be paraded in handcuffs before we take
action.
“Mounir should face the
allegations against him which were the only reasons why he was suspended.”
Adeosun said the allegations
against Mounir were “very serious” and contrary to the principle “fit and
proper” in the capital market.
She added: “Mounir said he
resigned from Medusah Investments in 2012, we obtained documents from CAC
showing him to still be a major shareholder and a director in the company,
which contradicts public service rules, as well as the Securities and Exchange
Commission Act.
“In the second company, Outband
Investments, where he claimed that he was representing his wife, that it is his
wife’s family’s company. The public service rules does not provide for that and
more importantly, that company has transacted with us. So there is a conflict
of interest.”
The minister said the standard in
the capital market is “very high” and “when we are taking disciplinary actions,
we must be seen to be above reproach or else those actions will be questioned.”
She also said: “The company in
contention (Oando) was alleging that the person investigating them was not a
fit and proper person and felt that his actions were coloured. That suspicion
needed to be removed.
“At the same time, we were
receiving information from the staff of SEC that documents were being removed.
And we knew we needed to do a thorough investigation which cannot be done with
Mounir still at the helm of affairs.
“Mounir has not been removed, he
was suspended. And he is not the first DG of SEC to be suspended.”
The hearing chaired by Tajudeen
Yusuf, chairman of the committee, was attended by both staff of the finance
ministry and SEC.
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