Group worried about low rating of corporate governance

The Society for Corporate Governance Nigeria (SCGN) has expressed worries over the low rating system of corporate governance in the country. Director of SCGN, Prof Fabian Ajogwu, who spoke at the closing bell ringing ceremony at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, in Lagos, noted that although many companies have demonstrated a high degree of corporate governance standards, a lot still needs to be done.

He extolled the Nigeria Stock Exchange for maintaining high standards of corporate governance code, and proposed continued partnership with the Exchange to ensure that identified gaps in the process of the corporate governance rating system are filled.

The ceremony was to herald the 2018 Annual Corporate Governance Conference, with the theme: “Towards sustainable development: The role of the Nigerian code of Corporate governance” scheduled for September 27, 2018 in Lagos.He said the partnership could bridge the gap in training advisory and research to halt the sliding rating system of corporate governance.

He stressed that on a few occasions, the SCGN has satisfactorily partnered with the Exchange to conduct development programmes for directors of its dealing member firms, which has resulted in a better understanding of the subject of corporate governance, risk management, and regulatory compliance.

According to him, since corporate governance is not stagnant but evolving with new trends, the society will like to share its research findings with the Exchange to improve the system.In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of the Exchange, Mr Oscar Onyema, who was represented by the Head, Shared Services Division.

Mr Bola Adeeko lauded SCGN for doing great work in propagation of corporate governance code in Nigeria.He said the Exchange has witnessed tremendous improvements in the recent time and pledged to work with SCGN to ensure that corporate governance is in the DNA of every organization in Nigeria.He also expressed the NSE’s willingness for continued partnership with the society especially in its training academy.