A former minister of budget and national planning and immediate past chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Udoma Udo Udoma, said transparent capital market practices remain crucial for driving long-term economic expansion.
Speaking at the PEARL Awards’ 30th anniversary celebration, Udoma noted that Nigeria cannot achieve sustainable economic growth without strengthening transparency and innovation in its capital market.
According to him, strong market governance fosters investor confidence, improves capital flows, accelerates corporate expansion, creates jobs and enhances national development.
“A vibrant capital market is essential for channelling funds into productive enterprises. When governance is strong, confidence rises and growth becomes inevitable,” he said.
Udoma noted the remarkable transformation of the Nigerian capital market over the past three decades, transitioning from manual trading floors to digital platforms, expanding its product offerings and embracing new sectors such as technology, fintech and the energy transition.
“I am very impressed by the scale of transformation we have witnessed. We now operate a fully digitalised trading and settlement environment with diverse instruments and deeper opportunities. The evolution of our capital market is truly one of Nigeria’s success stories,” he said.
The Seplat Chairman commended the vision of the founders of the PEARL Awards, describing the initiative as a catalyst for performance excellence. By using quantifiable and verifiable metrics, he said, the Awards have promoted transparency, discipline and competitiveness across the market. Udoma also congratulated all companies that emerged in the top three positions across various award categories.
Enugu State Governor, Dr Peter Mbah, represented by his Deputy, Ifeanyi Ossai, praised the awards for recognising excellence but stressed the need to expand opportunities for broader socio-economic progress.
He highlighted the struggles of sub-national governments in upgrading critical infrastructure, noting that without such infrastructure, private sector growth remains constrained.
A key challenge, he said, is the inability to distinguish development finance from commercial or investment finance.
“While investment finance delivers returns, development finance is designed to catalyse growth rather than generate high financial returns,” he explained.
Mbah stressed the need to create a separate portfolio specifically tailored for development finance, one that offers lower and more flexible interest rates to enable states to invest in essential infrastructure.
Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), Jude Chiemeka, highlighted the Exchange’s evolution into a multi-asset platform, with 147 listed companies and 102 Federal Government bonds among its offerings.
He said NGX is pleased to support the PEARL Awards, which celebrate corporate organisations operating within the Nigerian economy. Chiemeka noted that listed companies tend to be more tax-compliant and stressed that the Exchange remains aligned with the Federal Government’s ambition to build a $1 trillion economy.
He urged the government to create policies that encourage more corporations to list on the Exchange.
President of PEARL Awards Nigeria, Tayo Orekoya, reflected on the awards’ 30-year legacy, describing it as a celebration of vision, integrity, impact and resilience values that have helped shape the nation’s capital market.
Orekoya reiterated that the awards were established to honour publicly quoted companies based strictly on performance indicators such as earnings, operations and returns. Over the years, the Awards have become a symbol of transparency, credibility and meritocracy”, he said.
A highlight of the evening was the formal presentation of the 2026 Nigerian Stock Market Annals, which documents the methodologies, data, and market insights underpinning the awards, including insightful articles on the Nigerian economy.
Orekoya also announced a new category, The PEARL Excellence in Public Governance Award, created to recognise outstanding leadership in the public sector.
“Excellence is not limited to the private sector; it thrives equally in public service where vision and
integrity can transform lives,” he stated.
He also stated that the next phase of the awards will deepen data-driven insights, including expanded reviews of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to support their growth.
Among the companies honoured at the event were Prescott Plc, BUA Foods Plc, Transnational Corporation Plc, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Seplat Energies, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Champion Breweries, and NEM Insurance Plc, among others, while the PEAR Awards CEO of the year award was presented to Dr Owen Omogaifo, Group CEO, Transnational Corporation Plc.
