In the last three years, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reported N9 billion in deficits.
The agency disclosed this in a document submitted to the Senate Joint Committees on Finance, National Planning, Petroleum Upstream, Downstream, and Gas chaired by Senator Adeola Solomon Olamilekan, according to Daily Trust.
The Senate panel voiced fear that the Commission would go bankrupt as a result of the deficit.
At an interactive session with committee members on the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), the agency’s Director-General, Lamido Yuguda, blamed the deficit on the global economic slump and the COVID-19 epidemic.
According to the material he presented to the committee, the Commission had a deficit of N2.9 billion in 2019, N4.3 billion in 2020, and N1.7 billion as of June 2021.
Yuguda also revealed that his company’s estimated revenue for 2021 was N11.5 billion, with a N10.2 billion staff cost.
Sen. Olamilekan responded, saying, “Your submission gives us the false image about the SEC. You are a regulator to businesses that are making money but you aren’t making money. You may need to look at how to regulate your personnel to generate money. You need to cut down on cost.
“Your personnel cost, your top profile takes about 70% of total emolument of N9bn, only 30% go to lower cadre.
“You need to stop the trend, this is the second year you are coming with a deficit budget.
A member of the committee, Senator Kashim Shettima (APC Borno), challenged the Director-General to think out of the box.
“In the next two years, you are going to go bankrupt. Right now, you are in deficit and unless you come up with solutions, you are going to go insolvent and won’t be able to meet your needs.
“We are challenging you to go back to the drawing board and find solutions to your financial situation,” Shettima said.
