Indication emerged yesterday that the report of the Nigeria Stock Exchange on the role of Business mogul Aliko Dangote on AP shares manipulation have recommended that he steps down from the council of the Exchange. Sources at the Security and Exchange Commission disclosed that the NSE has submitted its report to SEC but that it was considering it while awaiting the outcome of the result of its own investigation.
The rivalry between Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola which has taken a turn for the worse has resulted in pressure mounting on Dangote to resign his post as vice chairman of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) over perceived conflict of interests in the unfolding financial saga that has seen the Securities & Exchange Commission, SEC suspend and fined Nova Finances Securities owned by Eugene Anenih, alleged to have acted as Dangote proxy. Nova Securities was accused of passing 50,000 units of AP shares daily between its account and that of Dangote and reducing the price of the shares by 5 per cent in each of the phoney transactions crossed on the floor of the exchange between them. Luck ran out on them when Afribank Registrar raised alarm having extracted the daily transaction on the floor of the Exchange and found it was done between Nova Securities and Dangote interest.
According to the report Dangote can not claim ignorance of the transaction on the ground that any transaction on the floor of the Exchange now trigger trade alert that will inform CSS account holder that a transaction has taken place in his/her account
When the lid on the AP shares saga blew open SEC suspended Nova Finance Securities last Thursday after preliminary investigations uncovered unethical practices. The SEC investigation which is ongoing, it was gathered, has extended its search light into Afribank Registrars; accused of aiding and abetting the unethical practices by Nova Finance Securities. Sources within Afribank Registrars – who are registrar to AP plc said that the SEC’S complaint rests on the failure of Afribank Registrars’ internal control mechanism to detect or prevent the dubious transactions by Nova Finance Securities and that its records were falsified to cover up the illegal transactions.
The suspension and fine of Nova Finances & Securities may not be evidence of the guilt of Afribank Registrars but it provides the clearest evidence of the complicity of the group of Dangote consortium partners in masterminding the scam. After several months of denial, the suspension of Nova Finances is a very sad illustration of the way business is done in Nigeria and the mindless audacity of some people in authority like Dangote who remains vice-president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. (NSE) As pressure continues to mount, the race to succeed the embattled Dangote by those who believe-or perhaps know-that he be will axed, should he fail to resign, may have begun in earnest. And a few names have been touted. But, curiously, Dangote is yet to sever all his ties to Nova.
When contacted the public relation manager of SEC Mr. Olori said that the commission was investigating the matter and when concluded the commission will make its pronouncement on the issue
