Dangote Elected NSE President by ‘Unanimous Acclamation’

Business mogul and Fou-nder of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, yesterday emerged President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) following his election by the Council of the Exchange.
Speaking after the Council meeting, the Director-General of the NSE, Prof. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, said: “The new president was elected by a unanimous acclamation. The first person to have enjoyed that rare privilege was a white person.”
Although she did not name the person in question, she said: “We are very happy to present these gentlemen to you. In my capacity as the chief electoral officer, I present to you the President and Chairman of Council of the NSE, Alhaji Aliko Dangote. Our new 1st Vice-President is Alabo Reginald Abbey-Heart and the 2nd Vice-president is Dr. Erastus Akingbola. The new president was elected by a unanimous acclamation. Everybody agreed that he should be our new president.”
Dangote joined the Council of the NSE in February 2008 as the Chairman of Kaduna/Kano/Yola Zonal Council. As the new president, he will preside over the affairs of the Exchange for the next three years.
In his reaction, Dangote said: “I want to say thank you for your support during and after my election. I will continue to seek your support to see how we can move this market forward. I want to assure you that this market will rebound very soon. What we need to do is to provide liquidity, once we do that, investor confidence will be restored and the market will take a new twist. This is possible because our quoted companies are reporting positive results. What we need is liquidity and we will do our best to provide liquidity.”
Earlier in his report to dealing members, Otudeko said despite the global financial meltdown, the Nigerian capital market fundamentals remain strong as shown by strong corporate earnings, high dividend payout and bonuses declared by quoted companies.
“I am glad to remark that during my tenure, efforts made to deepen the stock market achieved some degree of success. For instance, the Exchange facilitated a landmark transaction that led to the successful issuance of Global Depository Receipts (GDR) by Diamond Bank Plc and GTBank Plc on the London Stock Exchange thereby expanding the financing options for our listed companies,” he said.
Otudeko also noted that the NSE listed the first Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) on February 28, 2008, while five tradable indices were launched in the first quarter of 2009.
“I leave office today with gratitude to God leaving behind a repositioned, reinvented, more confident and especially peaceful Exchange, convinced that the vision of the Exchange becoming the leading stock exchange in the Africa region as well as the expectations of all our stakeholders, will sooner than later be realised,” Otudeko said.
He appealed to all stakeholders to keep the Exchange sacred and peaceful, urging them to protect it and advance its standards and practices.
“I urge you to extend your support and cooperation to our emerging President and Council as they assume the fresh mantle of leadership, determined to take our market to the next level,” he said.