These are certainly not the best of times for Mounir Gwarzo, director-general, DG, of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, who is alleged to have paid himself a severance package of N104 million from the commission shortly after he was appointed in 2015.

Gwarzo was an executive commissioner for two and a half years before he was appointed first as acting DG and later as DG in 2015.

According to a petition with the House of Representatives, he allegedly paid himself the hefty package as an entitlement.

In the petition, Gwarzo was said to have demanded a severance package due to a commissioner immediately he assumed office, despite the opposition mounted by the acting head of SEC legal department, Frana Chuwuogo.

The petition reads: “On assumption of office as the DG of the commission, Mr. Gwarzo immediately requested that the sum of N104,851,154.94 be paid to him as severance package for the cessation of his appointment as executive commissioner of the commission.

“The requested severance package in the sum of N104,851,154.94 was paid by the commission into Mr. Gwarzo’s bank account, held with Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, with account number 0023868895.

“Gwarzo received the above stated payment of a severance package in total disregard of the opinion of Mr. Frana Chukwuogo, the Acting Head of the Commission’s Legal Department, who clearly stated, in accordance with best practices, that a severance payment can only be paid to an employee of the commission who has concluded his or her service and has completely disengaged from the commission and not to an employee who has been promoted within the commission and has not severed his employment with the commission.”

INDEPENDENT confirmed that the account number referred to in the petition belongs to the director general, DG. The name on the account is Mounir Haliru Gwarzo.

The petition also said the SEC DG had been awarding contracts to his family members and friends, in violation of the rules guiding the commission.

It said Gwarzo, his family members, and certain directors of the commission were shareholders and directors in companies “used to carry out illegal transactions.”

Details of the “illegality” were stated, with at least four different accounts said to have been traced to him.

The petition continued: “Mr. Gwarzo and two of his relatives are directors of Outbound Investment Ltd.

“Since Mr. Gwarzo assumed office as DG of the commission, the company has been the sole supplier of diesel to the commission.

“The company has also supplied air conditioners to the Lagos zonal office of the commission, as well as refrigerators to the commission.

“Payments made by the commission to the company for contracts executed can be verified from the company’s bank account held with United Bank for Africa Plc, with account number 1016723428.

“Mr. Gwarzo, the DG of the commission, is a director of Medusa Investments Limited (the company).

“The only other director of the company is Khadija Mustapher, who is also the wife of the DG of the commission.

“The company has actively been used by Mr. Gwarzo as a shell to carry out illegal transactions as is verifiable from the frequent transactions carried out through the company’s bank account held with Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, with account number 0023953920.

“Mr. Gwarzo is a signatory to the said company account.

“Mr. Haris Haliru Gwarzo, the younger brother of the DG of the commission, is the sole proprietor of Northwind Environmental Services and the company has been engaged by the commission to clean the commission’s Kano Zonal Office since the inception of Mr. Gwarzo’s tenure as the DG of SEC.

“Payments made by the commission to the company for contracts executed can be verified from the company’s bank account with Diamond Bank Plc, with account number 0095179297.”

Five other companies allegedly used for personal gains were listed by the petitioner.

The petitioner noted that Gwarzo’s personal interest in the identified companies is a clear contravention of the regulation, which explicitly prohibits public officers from being in situations that bring their personal interest into conflict with their public duties.

Also, the use of the companies as suppliers to the commission, said government sources, amounts to earning wealth illegally and contravenes the EFCC Act as well as the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.

Efforts to speak with the embattled DG by our correspondent proved abortive as he refused to pick his call, while Naïf Abdulsalam, spokesman of the agency, said the DG would soon respond to all allegations.

“The attention of the commission has been drawn to the publication and hereby states that it had been aware of the allegations contained in that article since January 2017 following the receipt of a petition.

“As a tradition, the commission follows laid down rules and regulations in all its activities, and in this particular case, we ensured that no relevant policy was breached.

“However, the commission is currently putting together an official response and will issue same shortly.” – Independent

– Oct 27, 2017 @ 8:30 GMT |