Business news

Business (it's a press release)

The Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has stressed that until key players in the Nigerian economy list their businesses on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, (NSE), the market will not make progress.

Dogara said this when he received members of the Capital Market Master Plan Implementation Council in Abuja.

The Speaker in a statement released by his spokesman Turaki Hassan, said that the House is willing to provide all necessary support through legislations, incentives and any other instruments to compel all major companies in the country get listed on NSE.

He said One of the deepest issues that  has to be addressed is that of value that is being created and completely taken away by corporations.

According to him, in some jurisdictions, they refer to it as corporate greed; where so many companies are generating value investing in Nigeria, reaping profits but you find out that nine people will sit and just share billions of profit.

He said by listing in the Nigerian Stock Exchange, it  helps in the income improvement of the ordinary citizen.

Dogara expressed joy that the council had come up with a focus, vision and plans for moving the Nigerian Stock Market ahead.

He added that if democracy cannot deliver on the goods to Nigerians, then democracy was on trial.

Dogara further urged the council to look into tightening the regulatory power of Securities and Exchange Commission to ensure that manipulators of the NSE were properly sanctioned as a deterrent to future misdeeds.

According to him, this will restore investors' confidence in the market.

He further stressed the need for defined timelines for achieving set objectives in revamping the sector, while explaining that it was the only way to ensure  the whole process does not become another talk shop.

Earlier, the Head of the Council, Mr Olutola Mobolurin,  urged the Speaker to partner with the council to rebuild the NSE in order to grow the economy and diversify it.

He also sought legislative intervention in defining the roles of the Investment and Securities Tribunal, amendment to the law with regard to mutualisation of NSE.

He also sought legislating clearly on unclaimed dividends, crowd funding, price stability in Commodities Market,  Trustees Act and the Housing sector through mortgage bank securities.