Members of the Senate Committee on Capital Market lampooned the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for spending N8bn of its revenues to service staff.
The lawmakers, during the 2022 budget defense session at the National Assembly, said it was out of place for SEC to expend about 90 percent of its revenues in the 2021 fiscal year on staff salaries and other emoluments.
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The Director General of SEC, Yuguda Lamido, in his presentation, said, “A total of N11.5bn was projected as revenue for 2021 out of which N2.689bn was realized as at June with the hope of making more before the year runs out.
“Total recurrent expenditure for 2021 was budgeted at N13.53 billion but the actual expenditure was N4.063 by the end of June.
“Our budgeted deficit was N5.173 billion but the actual deficit as at end of September was N2.834 due to funding of it from our reserve.
“Though revenue performance is still weak but series of innovations like newly introduced charges for secondary investors, will boost it up from 2022 fiscal year and beyond.”
However, trouble started when the Director General was queried on the commission’s nominal roll and staff emolument.
The chairman of the committee, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (APC, Ogun) said, “You generate about N9 billion and almost N8 billion is purely for servicing the staff.
“You are having a huge deficit of almost N4 billion. When you continuously make this deficit, year in, year out, then something is wrong.”
Senator Kashim Shettima (APC, Borno) said SEC was “already bleeding and this bleeding will continue and if care is not taken, you will reach a point where you cannot even service your obligation.”
Senator Ayo Akinyelure (PDP, Ondo) expressed worry about SEC’s staff emolument that almost every year, the income it generates may not even be enough to service the staff.
The lawmakers, therefore, demanded details of the commission’s nominal roll for scrutiny.
Responding, the SEC D-G acknowledged that the staff emolument was high but said the commission under his leadership has put in place measures to reduce the expenditure and jerk up revenue.
He said, “When we came in last year into the management of the commission, we actually inherited this situation. We knew it was not sustainable and we tried to immediately start things that will reduce the expenditure. If not because of the things that we did when we came in, by now the situation we will be discussing will be even a much more dire situation than what is actually on ground.
“We have reduced staff emolument relating to gratuity. Secondly, we have identified that the commission is top-heavy. We have a lot of senior employees and very few junior employees.
“In fact, when we came to the commission last year, the commission had not done recruitment of young people since 2011.
