The Chairman, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Boniface Okezie, on Thursday raised several issues associated with the Investor’s Protection Fund, IPF, which the Nigerian Stock Exchage is reactivating to help investors who have suffered losses unduly.

Speaking on Business Morning, he faulted the NSE for not making details of the fund public, particularly the names of the beneficiaries. “An average investor does not know whether the fund is existing or not,” he said. He also stated that the modalities of the fund are unknown to investors

Mr Okezie also raised the issue of the selection of a representative, Mr Abodunrin, a member of the committee in charge of fund who represents the shareholders but wasn’t nominated by any of the members of the association.

In reaction to Mr Okozie’s complaints, the Head, Legal and Regulation Division of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Tinuade Awe, said that the Investments and Securities Act states that a maximum of 9 persons only can be on the board of trustees of the IPF and it provides a list of categories within the market from which the board members should come.

One of the categories is Shareholder’s Associations.

She explained that the representative had been selected based on registered shareholders associations whose records were updated as well as a representative who is credible.

Ms Awe said that the decision to nominate Mr Abodunrin, the head of the Ibadan zonal shareholders association, was reached in conjunction with and approved by the SEC.

She stressed that the names of all the nominees had been forwarded to the SEC for approval, which was granted. “We followed the law and we did the right thing,” she insisted.

She explained that the names of the beneficiaries of the IPF are undisclosed yet because the Investment and Securities Act, demands that a verification of claims be conducted by the SEC. The names would be released when the beneficiaries are being paid, she added.

Mr Okezie faulted the nomination system and said that it is the reason for the lack of free flow of information.

“At the time of the inauguration of the board of trustees, there were representatives from several media outlets which reported the news… there’s been a lot of information in the press about it,” Ms Awe countered.

According to her, any investor who claims to have suffered loss unduly as a result of the activities of a dealing member firm of the Nigerian Stock Exchange can come forward to make a claim from the over 722 million naira fund.