By Gbenga Agbana

Tuesday, 9 Nov 2010

The full report of the forensic audit carried out recently on the accounts of the Nigerian Stock Exchange will be ready on Friday, the Interim Administrator of the NSE, Mr. Emmanuel Ikazoboh, has said.

Ikazoboh, who disclosed this to our correspondent on Monday, said the current report in circulation was only the preliminary one.

According to him, the full report will be submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

Indications had emerged on Sunday that the forensic audit recently conducted by the interim administration of the Exchange revealed that the former council of the NSE, which was being probed, was involved in some other infractions.

A competent source, who spoke to our correspondent on Sunday, revealed that the former management of the NSE claimed to have spent about N2bn on the training of the workers of the Exchange.

This is aside from the N1.5bn claimed to have been spent on market development and publicity.

The SEC had recently ordered the NSE management to conduct a forensic audit of the operations of the Exchange to ascertain the level of involvement of the former council members and some stockbroking firms in the sharing of the profits allegedly made by the NSE in the last few years.

Investigations by our correspondent revealed that the former management and council of the NSE were trying to press some buttons through the wife of the President, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, to appeal to the Ministry of Finance to stop the investigation or step down some aspects of the findings of the forensic auditors.

It was also gathered that the forensic auditors discovered that the former management of the NSE also spent about N400m to organise a long service award ceremony.

Another N134m was earmarked for the procurement of two bullet proof cars, which were not purchased.

The management of SEC had also recently asked the interim management of the NSE to probe the sharing of N3.5bn “bonuses” from the operations of the Exchange in the last few years, in order to ensure good corporate governance.

Responding to the allegations, the Registrar of the Institute of Capital Market Registrars, Dr. Walker Ogogo, said, ”The SEC should take steps to ensure that those responsible are not allowed to walk away unpunished. It is a lesson to all the regulators and operators alike.”

Source: Punch