The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, on Saturday called on the Federal Government to compel, through legislation, all multinational companies to list their shares on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.The apex bank boss, who said this in Abuja at the 17th Nigerian Economic Summit, noted that the move would help develop the countrys capital market through a wide range of products. He said, "I have always said there is this question about the role of government in the development of an economy and the whole interface between private capital; their rights and their responsibilities to the societies in area of investment and partnership. "But the question is, why cant we have a law that will compel companies like MTN, Globacom and Shell to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange' There is absolutely no reason. They dont need to own 10 per cent of their companies and they dont need to be held closely by a narrow range of Nigerians. "We have a capital market; any company that generates revenue beyond a certain amount of money in this market should be compelled to list. Youve got oil and gas, telecoms, services, they can bring in their capital and take out dividends and there is no problem with that but they should list on the capital market. The apex bank boss said the multinational companies absence at the capital market was one of the major reasons for corporate governance abuse. He called on the FG to stop being "apologetic" to multinational companies since they depended on the country for their raw materials. He said, "The reasons we dont have these products and poor governance is because these companies are not listed. If you actually get then listed, the market would develop. "We must stop being apologetic to these multinational corporations and I will give you an example. Michelin was in Nigeria a few years ago and because we dont have roads and power, it closed down its factory and moved to a neighbouring country and started producing tyre. "People say they left because we dont have power. But Michelin still maintain ownership of 30,000 hectares of prime land in Ondo State, producing rubber and exporting to a neighbouring country. So why not take away the land and let them go and get 30,000 hectares of land wherever they went. We want foreign direct investment but it has to be investment that is committed to the growth of the economy." Asked if the move to take over the assets of these companies wont amount to nationalisation, he said, "No, you cant turn Nigeria into a banana republic where everybody comes, take rubber and produce it as manufactured goods and then export back to us. "If you run away from Nigeria, throw away Nigerians from jobs because we dont have power to move to a neighbouring country then let that country give you the land to produce your raw materials." The summit with the theme, Attracting foreign direct investment through global partnership also had in attendance key players in both the private and public sectors of the economy. Panelists at the dialogue were the Director General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms Arunma Oteh; the DG, National Planning Commission, Mr. Muhammad Ahmad; the DG, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyeama, and the Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission, Mr. Fola Daniel.
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