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By Chinwendu Obienyi and Chukwuma Umeorah
The Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Lamido Yuguda, says the Commission’s budget deficit rose to a surplus of about N2.5 billion at the end of the first half (H1) of 2022.
Yuguda stated this at the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework/Fiscal Strategy Paper, MTEF/FSP interactive session with the House of Representatives Committee on Finance in Abuja on Tuesday.
Whilst stating that the Commission’s struggles in 2020 and 2021 resulted in its operations running on a deficit, Yuguda, said the SEC had to urgently manage its finances while adding that this reflected in its deficit recorded in six months of 2022.
“When we came on board, it was very difficult but we assured the National Assembly that we were going to take certain actions to make this deficit a thing of the past and our story this year is that we have actually turned the corner.
If you look at our 2021 and 2020, compare with the 2022 budget and the 6 months in 2022 you will see that there is an actual improvement in the way we manage the finances of the Commission. It shows our budget for 2022 and the actual out time for the first half of that year. You can see that we projected a deficit of N1.6 billion, but as at the end of the first half, we have a surplus of about N2.5 billion”, he said.
Yuguda further said that the SEC has so far carried out its promise to reduce the top heavy structure in the Commission by offering some top personnels a voluntary exit package while adding it was able to substantially reduce its work force by almost 30 per cent. While admitting that the Commission has been operating under very difficult circumstances since it is currently superintending over a market that was affected by the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the SEC DG assured that steps are being taken to ensure that the fortunes of the Commission continues to improve.
Commending the SEC management, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Mr James Abiodun Faleke, expressed his pleasure at the various efforts the Commission has made so far in shoring up its finances.
Faleke said “Last year when you came here, we challenged you to look inwards and return the SEC to sustainability and I am happy you have done that and that you are living up to expectations. I want to commend you for your efforts thus far, while also admonishing you to work harder”.
