Application to join SEC in suit for hearing today

A Federal High Court, Lagos would today hear the motion filed by Arnold Onyekwere Ekpe seeking for an order of the court to join the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a civil suit before it.

Ekpe, the petitioner in the suit is praying the court to make an order to join SEC to his petition against four firms, namely Partnership Securities Limited, Partnership Investment Company Plc, Life Care Partners Limited and SBDC Microfinance Bank Limited.

He based his application on the grounds that SEC is the regulatory agency charged with the responsibility of developing the Capital Market.

In a 13 paragraph affidavit deposed by one Lilian Chukwuemeka, she averred “that among the primary responsibilities of the party seeking to be joined is to register capital market operators in Nigeria and regulate their activities with a view to protecting the investors.”

She averred: “That the 2nd respondent was registered by the party seeking to be joined sometime in 1993 to perform the function of issuing house and broker/dealer in the Nigeria Capital Market . That the respondents were suspended by Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), following the complaints of the petitioner/respondent to the knowledge of the party seeking to be joined. That as at October 31, the party seeking to be joined had received about 40 complaints/ petitions against the respondents, which are being investigated.”

She also swore that it is in the interest of justice that the party seeking to be joined be included in the process of the winding up of the respondents to protect the interest of all the parties having stake in the respondents.