DMO, CSL take FGN securities issuance awareness to Yola

The Debt Management Office (DMO) will on Wednesday hold the Northeast version of its Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Securities Awareness Programme in Yola, Adamawa.

The Director-General of the DMO, Patience Oniha, says the programme is being planned in collaboration with CSL Stockbrokers Ltd., the stockbroker to the Federal Government.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the DMO held its inaugural securities awareness programme in Lagos in March.

The programme has also been held in Enugu, Ibadan and Kano.
According to Oniha, the programme was designed to create awareness about the various financial offerings and investment opportunities of the Federal Government among the Nigerian public.

Oniha said the objective was to ensure that many more Nigerians became aware of attractive investment opportunities in FGN securities and take advantage of them.

“The purpose is to introduce DMO to the people because the Nigerian people are a very important set of stakeholders we must engage and to educate them about our various products.

“We are talking of investment products similar to shares,” she said.

She said the needs of government were growing, thus the need to get more stakeholders involved in raising the needed funds.

Oniha said the idea of getting more Nigerians to invest in government securities was to also promote and encourage financial inclusion.

She said it was advisable to get actively involved in the financial market, either by buying shares or bonds.

According to Kayode Olayemi, the head, of business development, CSL Stockbrokers Ltd., ordinary Nigerians also deserve the opportunity to invest and benefit from the huge opportunities in FGN bonds.

He said the FGN securities served as a benchmark for other private institutions to be able to issue their own debt securities.

“Government securities also enhance the saving and investment opportunities of the populace, thereby, promoting financial inclusion,” he said.

NAN reports that FGN Securities are financial instruments issued by the DMO on behalf of the Federal Government.

They are mostly fixed-income securities.

Under such investments, the government is obliged to make payments of a fixed amount on a fixed schedule, once or twice a year and repay the principal amount on maturity.

Investors in fixed-income securities are, therefore, guaranteed a constant and secure return on their investments. (NAN)