Reps to consider IST’s request on expansion of jurisdiction

The House of Representatives has said it will consider the request of the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST) to expand its jurisdictions to other financial-related cases, as well as more funding to enhance the growth of the tribunal.

Deputy Chairman, Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, Anayo Edwin, made the disclosure in Lagos, yesterday, at the commencement of the 2019/2020 legal year of IST.

Edwin said the tribunal is an independent and judicial body established under the Investments and Securities Acts, with the power to adjudicate all capital market, investment, and other related matters.

He urged the tribunal to be guided by its values of fairness, integrity, efficiency, professionalism and speedy dispensation of justice to achieve sustainable growth in the financial sector through a harmonious and investment-friendly capital market.

Earlier, the Chairman of the tribunal, Isaiah Idoko-Akor, had requested that the relevance of the IST should not be limited to the capital market alone.

Leveraging on its success story, Idoko-Akor said the idea has been mooted in some quarters on the need to enlarge the jurisdiction of the IST to encompass adjudication of disputes arising from dealing/transactions in the financial services sector of the Nigerian economy.

This, according to him, will engender speedy resolution of disputes in the financial services sector, away from the usual delays inherent in our regular/traditional court system with its attendant consequence for economic growth.

He mentioned that the Tribunal has continued to grapple with a perennial financial challenge notwithstanding the milestones reached in living up to its statutory mandate.

Idoko-Akor said the challenge has stymied the operations of the Tribunal, as the IST are unable to address her daunting infrastructural challenges and provide basic working tools for Members and Staff.

He said it is, however, hoped that this will be addressed by the authorities concerned, as the tribunal remains a very critical infrastructure in Nigeria’s capital market