The House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market on Sunday accused the Nigeria Stock Exchange of “manipulating” the prices of shares, a situation which it said could make foreign investors sceptical about the operations Nigerian market.

The Chairman of the committee, Alhaji Ahmed Wadada, who spoke with journalists on the issue, also declared that the decision of the NSE to halt the price crash of some shares was unethical.

Wadada said, “A situation where the intervention is done to correct the down side, while the up side price movement is left to market forces is not healthy for our market and only goes to confirm that the Exchange is only interested in allowing managed growth of our market, which the committee feels is unethical.

“The Director-General of the NSE, Prof. Ndi Okereke-Oyiuke, has no right to interfere with the law of demand and supply.

“The capital market is not an all comers’ affair, and we believe in globalisation and the sanctity of market forces.

“We should allow market forces to dictate the direction of the market.”

Okereke-Onyiuke had last week explained that the near crash in prices was caused by the rush by investors for private placements.

According to her, many investors were selling off their shares in preference for private placements.

The lawmaker, however, disagreed with her, arguing that the intervention was unheard of in a competitive market.

He added, “Since the NSE announced the intervention, I have received several calls from eminent Nigerians and some foreign investors asking me about this unethical policy.

“The capital market is not an all comers’ affair and if we believe in globalisation and the sanctity of market forces, then we should allow the market forces to dictate the direction of the market.

“The committee believes that the correction in the Nigerian capital market is due to the various oversight functions of the committee that brought to the fore the various inefficiencies in the market, which the regulatory authority, the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission has been correcting.

“The committee is really disturbed by the statement credited to the DG that the Exchange has the right to intervene and stop the downward movement of the prices of stocks.”