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Contrary to its assurance to provide official response being put together “shortly,” to the various allegations of fraud perpetrated under the leadership of Mounir Gwarzo as Director-General, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), on Saturday resorted to proxy response to the various issues, raised in a story on Wednesday by Sahara Reporters, including paying himself a princely N104.8m as severance, after serving as executive commissioner for 28 months before being appointed to the current position. According to the story which broke within the week, the action by Gwarzo was in “contravention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC Act), the Criminal Code Act and the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.” The first of the two terse statements issued by Nasif Abdussalam, head, corporate communications of the commission, on Thursday, October 26, 2017, a day after the story broke, insisted “that no relevant policy was breached.” He assured that “as a traditio

NSE INDEX SET TO CLOSE POSITIVE IN OCTOBER AMIDST STRONG Q3 NUMBERS Nigeria’s equity market had a very narrow up on Monday to start the week on mixed despite the increasing number of companies that released their quarterly earnings to the market during the trading session, with their numbers revealing mixed performance, as some companies posted positively surprising earnings that offered insights into the transformation activities going within these companies. These, more or less, also reflected the fact of the larger economy coming farther out of the woods, just as they confirm that the economic fundamentals being portrayed are not just on paper, but real, particularly the Nigeria’s exit from recession with its Q2 GDP growth of 0.55% after five consecutive quarters of being negative. Nonetheless, the slow reaction to these numbers is evidence that liquidity in the market is low even at the end month that coincides with the official end of earnings reporting season.

Zenith Bank has continued to demonstrate its high level of corporate governance that drives confidence  and supports numbers, as contained in its recently financials for the nine-month ended September 30, 2017 released to the investing public earlier than the date for the corresponding period of 2016, to allow investors plan their investment and forecast the banks performance.  The scorecard revealed the bank’s commitment, aggressiveness and track record of effective risk management that had reflected in its outstanding numbers that continues to support price and dividend payout.   The bank in more than one decade of its listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange has consistently grown its earnings and values on a quarterly and yearly basis which has also supported it dividend payout. The single-mindedness of the bank’s management in creating value for its stakeholders at all levels of operations continues to drive profitability, besides keeping it as number one in Nigerian in t