Senate Calls For Arunmah Oteh's Sack

The Senate has called for the removal of the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Arunmah Oteh.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Market, Senator Ayoade Ademola Adeseun (ACN, Oyo), who made the
call in a statement today, said the Senate backed the Lower Chamber in its resolution asking President Goodluck Jonathan to relieve Oteh of her job.

He said the committee was constrained to call for her removal to save the nation’s capital market from imminent collapse.

According to him, the committee noted that since Oteh's return, the commission has been plagued with series of protests that have pitted her against the staff.

"You will recall that the House of Representatives, few months ago, set up an Ad-hoc committee which investigated the "Near Collapse of the Nigerian Capital Market. Consequently, the House passed a resolution based on the report of that committee that the president should sack the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Arunmah Oteh.

"The House further resolved that should the president fail to comply with its resolution, the House would cease to accord any recognition to the SEC DG. You are also aware that instead of complying with that resolution of the House, the SEC DG was reinstated in a flagrant disregard of the resolution”, he said.

The lawmaker said its committee observed that the way the embattled DG was running the commission could further destroy the capital market and concluded that “if this trend is not arrested, the Nigerian capital market might be brought finally to its knees, with attendant deleterious effect on the economy of the country”.

"The committee, therefore, resolved to support the position of the House of Representatives that the SEC DG be removed forthwith. The committee also resolved to have nothing to do with Arunmah Oteh for as long as she remains at the helm of affairs at the SEC", he said.