Stakeholders cite repetition for rejection of new corporate governance code

•Call for creation of compendium to avoid duplication
Stakeholders yesterday at the public hearing and sensitization on Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance (NCCG) 2018 in Lagos, rejected the draft, stating that most of the contents of the code were already in practice.

They argued that the draft put together by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) was a waste of public fund as they employed people to start doing another set of regulation.

The Vice President of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), Rotimi Edu, noted that the FRC should be positioned to regulate the regulators, in terms of getting a correct national code, stating that the FRC is standing in the position of a regulator, thereby making the whole system over-regulated.

He said: “FRC should be in charge of regulating the regulators. They should see where there are loopholes; where there are under-regulations; try to advice where we have complaints as the regulated bodies. We should report to them, not for them to come as a regulator. It is making the whole place look as if we don’t know what we are doing.

“The code is not good to go because most of the things they are saying are already in practice. Why waste public funds to employ people to start doing another set of regulation?”

The National coordinator, Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Adebiyi Adebisi, said efforts put were in the wrong direction, stating that the idea of construction of national code was duplication.

He advised the body to look into all the existing codes and prepare a compendium which will not contradict anyone at anytime, rather it should bring about a parallel government instead of been sorting independently.

The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) commended the efforts of the FRC in coming up with the draft but appealed that code should be for listed companies.

Earlier in his remark, the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, FRC, Daniel Asapokhai said the NCCG 2018 shall apply to all public companies; whether listed or not, all private companies that are holding companies of public companies and other regulated entities, concessioned and privatised companies, and regulated private companies.

Asapokhai revealed that the Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance has adopted the ‘Apply and Explain’ principle, which requires companies to apply the requirements of the Code and to explain how they did so.

In his words: “The decision to adopt the ‘Apply and Explain’ approach was made after careful considerations of several factors including the Nigerian legal system, Nigerian culture and history, government policies, state of the Nigerian economy, global economic and political climate, and levels of capital inflow of investment coming into the country.”