Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
17
Sunday, January 13, 2013
A PUBLICATION OF GLOBAL MEDIA MIRROR LTD BARRISTER JIMOH IBRAHIM OFR PUBLISHER All the Facts, All the Sides STEVE AYORINDE
MD/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
BOLAJI TUNJI
SUNDAY EDITOR
DOZIE OKEBALAMA
COORDINATOR, EDITORIAL BOARD
ADESOYE ADEKOYA
CONTROLLER, PRODUCTION
ISE-OLUWA IGE
ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF
KAYODE BALOGUN JNR
SM, STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT
CALLISTUS OKE
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR
FRANK OBOH
HEAD, GRAPHICS
Needless face-off between lawmakers and SEC D-G
T
he House of Representatives appears to have taken its legislative responsibilities to an absurd dimension with its refusal to include the proposed appropriations for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the 2013 budget. The house had initially denied the SEC delegation to a budget defence session a hearing, insisting that it would not have anything to do with the Commission that is responsible for the regulation of the nation’s capital market until its DirectorGeneral, Miss Arunma Oteh, is removed from office by President Goodluck Jonathan. The disagreement between the legislators and Oteh started last year when during public hearing by the House Committee on the Capital Market, Oteh, in apparent response to a perceived witch-hunt by some committee members, opened a can of worms regarding her dealings with the legislators. Specifically, Oteh revealed that the erstwhile chairman of the committee, Herman Hembe, collected N4 million for a trip to the Dominican Republic, which he never did, but failed to return the money. She also accused Hembe and the committee’s vice-chairman, Ifeanyi Azubogu, of demanding for N44 million bribe so that the committee would be soft on her during the hearing. The ensuing scandal consumed Hembe and his colleague, with both now standing trial for corruption. It seems obvious that the House has not forgiven Oteh for this development. Subsequent efforts
to rubbish Oteh had led to her suspension as SEC D-G to allow for an independent probe of her tenure. But she was, in the end, given a clean bill and reinstated. The decision by the House to deny an agency of the Federal Government necessary and legitimate funds to operate in a new fiscal year on account of the aforementioned face-off can hardly be defended in any decent society. It amounts to the personalisation of government offices and institutions, which the legislature is tacitly mandated to work against. Can an agency of state be lawfully denied appropriation by the House on grounds that the FG refused to sack a certain public officer? Was it mature and responsible for the budget session of the House to invite the SEC D-G and her delegation with the sole purpose of ridiculing and walking them out of the Chamber? With their position that they would not have anything to do with the SEC until President Jonathan sacks Oteh, with whom they have scores to settle, have the lawmakers not constituted themselves into accusers and judges in their own cause? These are questions the lawmakers should answer with all sincerity. For, we are unable to see what purpose the refusal to appropriate funds for the SEC will serve at a time when the nation’s capital market is showing the clearest signs of recovery yet after the disastrous crash of 2008. Indeed, the Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index gained
35.4 per cent for the full year in 2012, placing it among the top three performers globally on account of increasing investor-confidence, amid evidence of tighter regulation, improvement in management and processes, and the modernisation of Nigerian Stock Exchange’s operations. These are achievements directly linked to Oteh’s tenure, which the lawmakers now seek to truncate. Agreed that there are many other qualified Nigerians to take up the SEC D-G’s position, the executive needs not succumb to the armtwisting tactics and blackmail of the legislature, lest the nation faces a situation where lawmakers will be denying a ministry or any other government establishment the required funds any time the House feels offended. It would have been a different matter if the legislators had any concrete evidence of wrong-doing against the embattled SEC D-G. As many stakeholders have warned, the sustained attacks on Oteh and the ill-conceived attempt to starve the capital market regulator of funds could ultimately trigger a reversal of the gains so far recorded in the market. We commend Oteh for calling the lawmakers’ bluff; and the Senate for distancing itself from the conspiracy of the House to punish a woman for daring to speak up against corruption. The House should desist forthwith from personalising public issues as strong democratic institutions cannot develop from a political culture that gags whistle blowers.
Reminiscences JANUARY 13 IN HISTORY 1942: Ford Motor gets patent on plastic car
Wartime material shortages forced manufacturers to become very creative. Therefore, Ford Motor Company - one of the first leading manufacturers of mass-produced vehicles - registered for a patent on a plastic car. This was the date that the patent became official. The plastic that was used to make this particular model of car was derived from the soybean plant.
1961: UN troops battle Lumumba’s supporters
Fighting erupted between UN troops and supporters of Patrice Lumumba in the Congo.
1973: US – West Virginian woman files discrimination complaint
A female West Virginia University student filed a discrimination complaint through the West Virginia Human Rights Division. The reason for the complaint was that this female student was denied resident tuition prices because her husband was attending an out-of-state school.
1982: 78 killed in air crash In Washington D.C., a Boeing 727 aircraft crashed into the Potomac River, just two miles from the White House. In the process, 78 people were killed. This crash was caused by bad weather.
1993: Allieds bomb southern Iraq
American, British and French bombers carried out a series of bombing raids over southern Iraq because Iraqis repeatedly breached the “no-fly zone” set up after the Gulf War.
2001: Earthquake kills 1,000 in Salvador A major earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale struck the South American city of San Salvador leaving over 1,000 dead.
2009: Israel attacks, occupies Gaza
The Israeli attacks and occupation of Gaza continued with 60 more targets bombed overnight, the Israeli offensive is entered its third week and the number of bombings and the death toll in Gaza approached 1,000 with nearly 300 of the deaths being children. The attacks and Israeli occupation are in retaliation for rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza on Israeli cities.
2011: German tanker capsizes on Rhine River
A tanker carrying a large amount of sulfuric acid sunk on the Rhine River. Two crew members were rescued while two others were missing.