Chairman of the Senate Committee on Capital Market, Senator Ganiyu Solomon, has said the upper chamber would intervene in the sourcing of public funds by banks and other institutions in order to protect the interest of investors in the country.

Towards this end, he revealed that the committee would soon present to the National Assembly, a bill to review the Investment and Security Act (ISA). This is in order to protect investors in companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

He also spoke of the need for shareholders in the country to begin to take a second look at the operations and management of most of the financial institutions, who he said, have continued to seek public funds to run their affairs, adding that most of the banks in the country, now back to the capital market, must be closely scrutinised. He called on the shareholders not just to buy shares and accept dividends but be interested in how the banks are run.

Solomon also disclosed that the Senate Committee would soon seek clarification from the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the position of the banks now making a second recapitalisation bid, adding that most of the banks are sourcing of public funds to be able to manage the foreign reserves of the country.

According to him, there is a need to begin to ask questions about what contributions the banks are making to the real sectors of the economy saying that with the previous capitalisation the banks have not impacted positively on the real sectors of the nation's economy.

"The ongoing recapitalisation by the banks is not borne out of the desire to take any serious step to contribute to the growth of the nation's economy. If you look closely at their records and what they have used the money raised through the capital market, they have not actually impacted positively on the real sector of the nation’s economy," he declared. The lawmaker also hinted that the preoccupation of the committee "is to ensure that the confidence of investors is not eroded and that the activities of publicly quoted companies are in line with the nation’s laws."

Solomon also called on President Umaru Yar'Adua to come out with a categorical statement on the position of the federal government on the leadership of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and its chairman Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, saying the present situation is confusing and would affect the country's image.

He said that while the government has the right to determine the fate of any institution, the way it is going about it is not too tidy, adding; "I will want to believe that there is much to the matter than the public knows and the earlier the president comes out to clear the air on the issue the better for the image of the country. Yar'Adua just has to come out and clear the air on the tenure of Malam Ribadu in the EFCC and the organisation itself before any merger (with other anti-graft agencies) is considered."

According to him, in spite of the perceived inadequacies of the EFCC, "whether we like it or not, Nigeria has been able to take reasonable steps in the war against corruption and this feat has been acknowledged in the whole world."