By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has relieved the Chairman of the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST), Mr. Siaka Isiah Idoko-Akoh of his position and a member of the tribunal, Mr. Jude. Udunni, appointed in an acting capacity.
Idoko-Akoh’s sack was contained in a circular signed by the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Finance, Dr. Mahmoud Isa-Dutse.
It read: “I write to convey the approval of Mr. President for your removal from office as the Chairman of the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST) with immediate effect. Accordingly, you are required to hand over the office of the Chairman including all property(ies) of the IST in your custody to Mr. J. I. Udunni, a full time member of the Tribunal, who by this same letter from the State House has been appointed as Acting Chairman of the IST,” the memo said.
Although no reason was adduced for the sack of Idoko-Akoh’s who was appointed chairman on August 1, 2017, it was learnt that the former chairman was having running battles with the staff of the Tribunal over payment of their emoluments.
Apart from him, nine other members were appointed into the IST as full and part-time members respectively.
Full time members are Mr Jude Udunni, Mr Nosa Osemwengie, Mr Abubakar Ahmed and Mr Albert Otesile.
Part-time members include Mr Emeka Madubuike, Mr Kasumi Garba Kurfi, Mr Edward Ajayi, Mr Onyemachi Elujekor and Mr Mamman Bukar Zargana.
Idoko-Akoh, a native of Kogi State is a lawyer and worked with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC Nigeria), where he served as Director before retiring in 2006.
The Investments and Securities Tribunal (IST) is an independent specialized judicial body, originally established under Section 224 of the now repealed Investments and Securities Act (ISA) No. 45 of 1999, but currently having its enabling statutory provision under Section 274 of the Investments and Securities Act No. 29 of 2007.
It is vested with the onerous responsibility of interpreting the ISA and adjudicating on disputes and controversies in capital market transactions.
As a Tribunal, the IST combines the rule of law applicable in traditional law courts with the responsiveness, flexibility, speed and cost effectiveness associated with specialized courts and alternative disputes resolution (ADR) systems.
The Tribunal has specialized knowledge of the capital market/securities and pension’s law and operations due to the varied technical and operational skills of its members and staff which it applies in deciding each case brought before it.
