(L-R)Sanjeev Chhetri, GM, operations, Classic Beverages Nigeria Ltd; Prahlad Gangadharan, COO and Afolayan Agboola, head, Lagos State Office 1, Standard Organisation of Nigeria during the presentation of NIS Mancap certificate for La casera cream soda, La casera Peach drrink and La casera pineapple drink to Chhetri in Lagos recently.

Professor Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke who was last week relieved of her post as the director-general of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is set to wage a legal battle against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The legal battle which is aimed at restraining the SEC from inflicting serious social, economic and professional damage to her person may take off within the week, even as the new team appointed by SEC to over-see the activities of the NSE is already digging deep in a bid to consolidate.
BusinessWorld Intelligence can reveal that a notable legal practitioner and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who was once the national president of the Nigerian Bar Association is believed to have been busy putting the necessary papers together for Professor Okereke-Onyiuke who is believed to have been making moves to extricate herself from the dishonour which the SEC action has done to her. There are strong indications that the team of very experienced lawyers may pray the court to compel SEC to rescind the sack order.
Some lawyers are of the opinion that the order to sack the Professor Okereke-Onyiuke was an abuse of due process which has been enshrined in the laws establishing the exchange. They said that SEC was a little hasty in its decisions as it issued a mandate to the council for the removal of Okereke-Onyiuke and Aliko Dangote from the council of the NSE but did not wait for the council to seat so as to carry out the instruction.
Our sources noted that SEC has anticipated a legal response from Okereke-Onyiuke and has also begun frantic consultations for a defence. Legal luminaries who spoke to BusinessWorld are of the opinion that Okereke-Onyiuke may get a reprieve from the court based on the private status of NSE and the obvious erosion of due process in the SEC’s action. But there are strong indications that SEC may have its way based on a likely decision by the court to protect public institutions from odium.
However, a former bank executive has urged the Federal Government to discourage the militarization of the financial sector by the regulators whenever there is any problem. He said that the huge number of police men that had to lay siege at the offices of the NSE plus the number that accompanied Ms. Arunma Oteh, SEC director general to NSE last Thursday seemed to suggest that there was a serious security crisis whereas there was none. He said that this was also the same situation when some bank chiefs were sacked last year by the Central Bank of Nigeria.