• As Lawson retires Dec.
By Kingsley Ighomwenghian
Apex regulator of Nigeria's Capital market, at the mid-week blamed the planned resignation of Kolapo Lawson as chairman of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated for the slow pace of the ongoing probe of corporate governance breach by the group.
In a two paragraph statement signed by its management, the commission said "the investigation being carried out by the SEC complemented by KPMG Professional Services is progressing satisfactorily."
The update, the commission explained further, became necessary because "of persistent inquiries from domestic and foreign investors and stakeholders."
According to the SEC, the investigation is ongoing "in line with its investor protection mandate."
The commission had on September 15, 2013, announced the appointment of KPMG Professional Services, a leading accounting, audit and management consulting firm, to join its corporate governance investigation team on ETI, promising .
The SEC had promised a speedy conclusion of the investigation into alleged corporate governance breaches at ETI."
The probe, followed a petition by ETI's Executive Director of Risk and Finance Laurence do Rego, alleging insider dealings, a unilateral alteration of the CEO's contract, bonus payment, and a planned sale of the group's non-core assets.
ETI had announced that Lawson, while denying allegations of wrongdoing would
will retire on December 31, handing over to André Siaka, Jeremy Reynolds as interim chairman, according to a statement by its spokesman.
A statement by the group quoted Lawson as saying "the last few months have seen huge pressure on the organisation, and on me personally, in the media. These have culminated in allegations, which are untrue, made to the Nigerian SEC on issues of corporate governance. During this time, I led constructive discussions on the need for independent review of these allegations.
"The board has now taken the necessary decisions to appoint independent parties who, I am confident will investigate these allegations and review our corporate governance with the utmost professionalism. In order to give total credibility to these reviews, I have decided it would not be appropriate for me to be the person leading this process. The Board has assured me of its commitment to seeing these investigations through and I will continue to monitor this as an interested party.
"I am very conscious of the uncertainty that current media speculation has cast over the institution. I therefore wish to take the necessary steps to bring this to an end. As the head of such a respected global institution, I must act when there is even the slightest perception that the interests of that institution might be at risk. I therefore step aside as Chairman of Ecobank Transnational."
