Kayode Tokede
Shareholders under the aegis of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN) have said, it is seeking to address judicial and other typical issues stifling the activities of shareholders in the capital market and the economy at large.
Announcing the ISAN seventh Triennial Delegates Conference and Gala Night slated for next week in Lagos, the national coordinator of ISAN, Prince Anthony Omojola recently said, the event was necessitated by the urgent need to proffer a panacea for several policies and laws that is stifling the activities of the capital market thereby deterring investors.
According to him, “Triennial Delegates’ Conference, as the name states, is a three-year event which all our members and all strategic stakeholders in the nation’s economic in general and the Nigerian capital market in particular always eagerly look forward to. This event is used to call attention to issues that are pertinent to economic development and corporate governance.
“In addition, to organizing Triennial Delegates Conference’s, we also organize conferences to address the current topical economic issues. Companies and Allied Matters Act makes an elaborate attempts to protect the interest of all investors in general and minority interest in particular with the various regulatory agencies ensuring that this principle of protection is understood and sustained.
“As a watchdog of publicly quoted companies, we have charged ourselves with the responsibility of ensuring that all the stakeholders adhere to the rules in accordance with Best Corporate practices with diligence.
“In the course of playing our own part in the scheme of things, we have had to agree or disagree with successive governments, their regulatory agencies. Company boards and their managers especially those of them that are quoted on the Nigeran Exchange Limited (NGX). We have organized demonstrations and even gone to court to seek redress or seek correct legal interpretation on some of issues we consider to be arbitrary imposition by regulators.
“We have been fighting that unclaimed dividends do not belong to the government and will not belong to the government or any of the agencies under any guise. For over 15 years, the fight continues and the last efforts of the FG and its agencies to legislate on it has been checkmated through court process.”
He noted that the performance of the capital market is largely based on government policies, stressing that the current policies regulating the macro-economic environment are not favourable to the operation and growth of the economy and that ISAN seeks to interface with the government for the redress of such policies.
According to him, “We know the way our capital market is structured; it operates under certain policies of the government. When the policies are good, the market comes out good, but when the policies are bad, the market suffers.”
The general secretary of ISAN, Chibuzor Emmanuel said at the event said the association has been at the forefront of advocacy for the protection of the interest of investors.
In the area of unclaimed dividend, which stands at N177 billion as at 2021, he said, ISAN would continue to engage its members and the public in sensitisation on how the capital market really works and how they can claim their dividends.
He enjoined all stakeholders to take an active part in the coming Delegates’ Conference and play their respective roles in improving the growth of the economy.
