EFCC Visits Nigeria Stock Exchange. This Doesn't Guarantee A Fraud-Free Market

From Vanguard: Except we want to keep deceiving ourselves that is when we will say there is no fraud going on in the market, but whether we have the capacity to fight it is a question I may not be able to answer now. Not even with the presence of EFCC in the market can one be too sure that a new dawn has come to the market. Come to think of this, has EFCC been able to successfully combat corruption in other sectors of the economy where it has presence?

 For instance, if we must be sincere to ourselves, how many people in politics, oil and gas and in the other sectors of the economy where people are looting billions of public fund, has EFCC been able to bring to book? How can you then tell me that an agency such as EFCC, which is often used as political tool to fight opposition, will make a positive impact in the capital market?

How will you convince me that EFCC that has failed in other sectors will be able to clear the frauds in the capital market? If care is not taken, their presence in the market may not yield any positive benefit and might result to another waste of resources and time.

The fact remains that there are frauds in the market that need to be stopped, no doubt about this. But just like the character of many of the managers, a lot of government controlled agencies in the country usually act based on sentiments and to protect their own interests.

Except they are going to live beyond this, they might be used as a tool to fight some innocent companies, while protecting the interest of the highly connected, which is not the best for the market. But if they will carry out this task without favouritism, we will all live to see the benefit, not only manifesting in the capital market, but in the entire economy.

What I am saying is that EFCC coming to the market is not wrong as a measure to check fraudulent acts, but let them first look inward and correct their wrongs.

There are cases of fraudulent practices that will bring you close to tears if you hear them. There is one that is very close to me; I have someone close to me, who bought shares through a stockbroker and the stockbroker just went ahead and sold the share without his consent, and he was expecting his dividend only to find out later that they had sold his shares. Up till today, the man has not been able to get his investment back. I can mention the name of the stockbrokers, but I will not and we are still looking at how to get that stockbroker now.

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