Follow Us on Google
By Chinwendu Obienyi and Chukwuma Umeorah
Amid operational headwinds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it has so far committed the sum of N1.588 billion to the Federal Government in six months (6M) of 2022. This was even as it pleaded with the Federal Government to see ways reducing its dues deduction of 40 per cent.
The Director General, SEC, Lamido Yuguda, stated this at the 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework/Fiscal Strategy Paper, MTEF/FSP interactive session with the Senate Committee on Finance in Abuja.
Whilst pointing out that the Commission is a 100 per cent self-funded agency of government and pays dues to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federal government under the Finance Act 2020 that has amended the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) of 2007, Yuguda revealed that by the provision of the Act, the SEC have committed the sum of N1.588 billion for the 6 months ending June 2022.
According to him, the commission committed a sum of N1.37 billion and N3.71 billion in the whole of 2021 and 2020 respectively from the time the deductions started.
While admitting that the Commission has recorded major turnaround in its fortunes, Yuguda however stated that 40 per cent contribution to CRF might be too high for the SEC and urged the Senators to take a second look.
He said, “Right now we are contributing 25 per cent to the federal government which is deducted at source and we are also asked to pay another 15 per cent at the end of the financial year when we submit our annual accounts. That is making 40 per cent in total, I am saying that based on what we have done so far, that 40 per cent is a little too heavy for the Commission and I would like this Committee to look at this issue.
We have been able to cope with the 25 per cent since it started, but the additional 15 per cent has actually been very difficult for us. We are coming from a deficit position, when the bill for the 15 per cent came, the Commission had already spent the balance of the 75 per cent that we were able to retain on overheads”.
Yuguda who stated 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, however assured that steps are being taken to ensure that the fortunes of the SEC continues to improve.
He disclosed that the Commission raises revenue from the market to finance its regulatory activities on the market, but however cautioned that if these fees are raised too high, they will deter mobilisation of capital and deter participation in the capital market saying that there needs to be a good balance between asking SEC to raise revenues to finance its activities and asking SEC to also contribute revenue to the coffers of government.
He said, “If we go through the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework which we started last year, if we look at 2022 and 2023, you will see that we have worked on our expenditure and have done a lot of financial management to turn around the fortunes of the Commission. We therefore need the support of all to engineer the kind of transition we are thinking of at the SEC.”
