TUESDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2010  IHEANYI NWACHUKWU  

 

The independent auditors’ report sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shows that Akintola Williams Deloitte, external auditors to the Exchange, qualified the audited accounts and raised questions based on their findings, BusinessDay has learnt.

 

An earlier report had indicated that the auditors signed off an unqualified report which has stirred up much controversy in the financial sector. The report was contained in a SEC release last week, which was signed by its assistant director/head media, Lanre Oloyi. But investigations by BusinessDay indicated that Deloitte qualified the accounts. A close source at the Exchange, yesterday, confirmed to BusinessDay that the auditors, in their opinion, noted that an accrued sum of N1.2billion was distributed to employees and Council members as bonuses and share of surplus respectively in the current year.

 

“This is contrary to section 26(3) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, Cap C20 LFN 2004 and section 6 of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Exchange which stipulates that the income and property of the Exchange shall be applied solely towards the promotion of the objects of the Exchange and no portion thereof shall be paid or transferred directly or indirectly by way of dividend, bonus or otherwise,” the auditors’ report stated. Our source also noted the NSE Council’s responsibility for the financial statements. “The Council is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with Statements of Accounting Standards applicable in Nigeria and in the manner required by the Companies and Allied Matters Act CAP C20 LFN 2004, and for such internal control as the Council determines are necessary, to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.”

 

The auditors, as a matter of emphasis on their report, drew attention to note 27 of the financial statements, where events, after balance sheet date, have resulted in the intervention of the SEC in the management of the Exchange to address allegations of financial mismanagement and inadequate oversight, “and which describes the uncertainty related to the outcome of the investigation of these allegation,” the report added.

 

It will be recalled that the Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, at a meeting on September 28, 2010, approved the audited accounts of the NSE for 2009. As mandated by the Investment and Securities Act (ISA), the Interim Administrator of the NSE, Emmanuel Ikazoboh, submitted the approved accounts to the SEC.

 

Source:BusinessDay