A shareholder and financial analyst, Mr. Boniface Okezie, said the recent invasion of the National Assembly by the Department of State Services was a bad signal to foreign investors and the international community.
According to Okezie, “It will be difficult to woo any foreign portfolio investor to bring their funds to the capital market.
This is definitely not the time for such political jingoism which could jeopardise the image of the
country and have negative impact on the
market.”
Okezie, who spoke in an exclusive interview with our correspondent, said the duty of the National Assembly is to make law for its citizens even as he stressed that if the law makers are law breakers, then the entire country will be in disarray.
“The federal government, over time, has been spending money on roadshows outside the shores of this country to woo investors. Now, with this scenario, investors confidence will further depreciate,”
he said.
Okezie, who is also the National Chairman of Progressive Shareholders Association, explained that already, the capital market has lost about N356billion in the first quarter of 2018. He, however, cautioned that the there is the need for the federal government and all other arms of government to jointly build the
economy.
He said some investor have sold off their stock, waiting for the 2019 general election to be over, and the stability of the market before they could come back with their investment.
“So this is our problem. Though, Nigeria has not learnt any lesson from their previous mistakes. We must begin to conduct ourselves in such a manner that the International communities will take us
serious.
“This is not a military regime, if people who are elected to make
law for the country, including the foreigners who
are coming to do business, to invest in the country, are not doing
the right thing and the atmosphere is not conducive, nobody will be willing to come and do business here in Nigeria,” he
said.
