MARKET NEWS
Goddy Egene
The Investment and Securities Tribunal(IST) has given judgment in assets of over N868 billion from 2003 to 2017, the new chairman of the tribunal, Mr. Amos Azi, has said.
Azi disclosed this shortly after he was sworn in as chairman and Nosa Osemwengie as a member of the tribunal by Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed in Abuja.
“The tribunal was established as a critical infrastructure in the ecosystem of the Nigerian capital market and indeed Nigeria as a whole. The tribunal has not failed in its statutory responsibility, it has carried out its assignment with candor and integrity and I will improve on that. The administrative and labour related issues we are already working to address that. I am happy to report that we have so far made very meaningful progress,” he said.
Azi said the tribunal is equipped and properly situated to look into all financial issues in the country and expressed the hope that it can be transformed so that it can look at all issues arising from the entire financial sector.
Speaking at the event, Ahmed said their appointments have come at a time when all hands are needed to build our economy.
“As you all may be aware, the IST was first inaugurated in December, 2002. It is a specialised fast-track court, established for the settlement of disputes in the capital market,” she said.
The minister noted that since its establishment, the tribunal, has made some strides, particularly in its adjudicatory role which has gone a long way to sanitize the capital market and build investors’ confidence.
She highlighted the chairman’s responsibility,saying: “Let me stress here, that the chairman’s responsibility is to provide good leadership that would galvanise the human and material resources at the tribunal’s disposal on the path of stability towards achieving its mandate in a consistent manner. I call on all members of the IST to cooperate with the new chairman, so that the vision of the tribunal which is ‘to be a world class capital market tribunal that is fair and transparent, dispensing justice without fear or favour,’ could be attained.”
According to her, within its short time of its existence, in view of the dynamism in law, “the tribunal has reviewed its Procedure Rules with the publication of the IST (Procedure) Rules 2014.
“Also worthy of note is that the tribunal has partnered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to review the enabling law with the enactment of the ISA, 2007,” she said.
