President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday nominated Mr. Lamido Yuguda as the new Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Yuguda will replace Ms Mary Uduk who has been in acting capacity as DG of the Commission.
The President sent his name and three other nominees as full-time Commissioners of the Commission to the Senate for confirmation yesterday.
The President’s request was contained in a letter read by the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, during plenary on Tuesday.
The letter reads: “Pursuant to Section 3 and 5(1) of the Investment and Securities Act 2007, I write to request for confirmation by the Senate, the appointment of the following four nominees as Director General and Commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Their CVs are attached herewith.
Others for confirmation are: Mr. Lamido A. Yuguda, Director General; Reginald C. karausa, full-time Commissioner; Ibrahim D. Boyi, full-time Commissioner; and Mr. Obi Joseph, full-time Commissioner.
Born on 1 June 1963 in the North Eastern state of Gombe, Mr Yuguda is an experienced investment manager, financial analyst, central banker, chartered accountant and economist with significant foreign exchange reserves management and macroeconomic policy management competence.
He was recognized as an Accounting and Financial Analysis by the London Business School, London, UK in 2020; Mergers and Acquisitions, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA, 2019; Corporate Governance: Effectiveness and Accountability in the Boardroom, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA, 2018; Strategic Investment Management, London Business School, London, UK, 2016, among others
He obtained a certificate in Financial Asset Management & Engineering from Swiss Finance Institute, Geneva, Switzerland, 2006; M.Soc.Sc. Money, Banking & Finance from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, 1991; B.Sc. Accounting Honours (2nd Class Upper Division): Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria, 1983. He had his secondary school education from Government Secondary School, Waka, Biu in Borno State where he obtained his West African School Certificate ‘O’ Level (Division One with Distinction) in1979.
He has numerous professional qualifications. They include: Certificate in Investment Performance Management (CIPM), CFA Institute; Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder, CFA Institute; a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA) and an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ACA).
Yuguda who rose to the position of a Non-Executive Commissioner, Securities & Exchange Commission in June 2019, was the Chairman, Board of Directors, Gombe State Investment and Property Development Company Limited, Gombe, a position he held from January 2018 to May 2019.
Until his new appointment, he was the Non-Executive Director, Premium Pension Limited, Abuja (since December, 2017). He was also a Non-Executive Director, Africa Finance Corporation, Lagos from July 2014 to June 2016.
Commenting on the development, Professor of capital market, Uche Uwaleke said the nominees are all eminently qualified especially the DG nominee who retired from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as a Director.
“There is no doubt that Mary Uduk did very well as Ag DG. So i expect him to continue from where she is signing off. Since the days of Arunma Oteh as DG through Mounir Gwarzo, there has been a major agenda which is the implementation of the Capital Market Master Plan. So, the new DG Lamido Yuguda already has his job well cut out for him.
“All he needs do is to pick up the document, revise and update it and then hit the ground running with the remaining outstanding initiatives in the Master Plan,” he stated.
He posited that the retention of Reginald Karawusa, who has been functioning in an Acting capacity, as full time Executive Commissioner will help the new management team settle down in good time.
The former Commissioner for finance in Imo State urged the new DG to carry the Board along by working closely with the Chairman, Olufemi Lijadu to improve the welfare of the Commission’s staff as well as advance the interest of the capital market.
“I have no doubt that his rich central banking background will rub off positively on the market especially in the area of forging closer ties between SEC and the CBN in the overall interest of the nation’s financial market,” Uwaleke added.