The House of Representatives has commended the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for improving its financial sustainability through cost-cutting measures and increased revenue generation.
Speaking during the 2026 Revenue Monitoring Exercise in Abuja, Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Saeed Abdullahi, praised the commission’s performance and encouraged it to exceed its 2026 revenue target by at least 20 percent.
Abdullahi said the monitoring exercise was designed to improve the performance of government agencies rather than punish them, especially as Nigeria faces significant fiscal challenges.
SEC Director-General, Emomotimi Agama, told lawmakers that the commission receives no budgetary allocation from the Federal Government and relies entirely on revenue generated from Nigeria’s capital market while still remitting funds to the government.
According to Agama, the SEC operates in line with the principles of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), which advocate financial independence for securities regulators. He explained that statutory deductions are automatically made from the commission’s revenues once they enter its Central Bank account.
To ease operational pressures, Agama disclosed that the SEC obtained approval from the Minister of Finance to retain 20 percent of its internally generated revenue instead of remitting all proceeds.
He also announced that the commission had secured a grant from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to acquire a modern market surveillance system, which is expected to be deployed this year to strengthen oversight of Nigeria’s capital market and align it with international standards.
