MONDAYBUSINESS MONEY MATTERS Shareholders now take lead in Oando-SEC rift
The media furore around Oando PLC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) isn’t coming to an end yet with alternative shareholder groups coming out to condemn the recent public outcry by shareholders under the aegis of the Oando Shareholders Soli
Two different shareholder groups have now emerged to defend the interests of the wearing parties in the crisis between the Oando Plc and the apex regulator in the capital market, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The groups are the Shareholders United Front Association and the National Coordinating Committee of Shareholders Association to name a few on one hand and the Oando Shareholders Solidarity Group (OSSG) on the other hand.
The first group have raised concerns at the public nature of the SEC investigation and the impact it has had on the Company to date, from a reduction in share price to eroded local and international investor confidence. They have also condemned the fact that one group seems to have taken on the role of spokesperson for all Oando shareholders.
Clement Ebitimi, South-South Coordinator of OSSG who led the second group had discredited the Company’s recent statement on the SEC’s mishandling of the investigation by stating that he did not believe that the current management of Oando PLC was protecting the interests of shareholders and that all shareholders of the Company are angry, and frustratingly tired of the management.
Mr. Gbenga Idowu of the Shareholders United Front Association said: “another shareholder cannot speak on behalf of all Oando shareholders especially when shareholders that attended the most recent Company AGM showed their support and confidence in the current management through their votes and voices.
“The shareholders reaffirmed their support for the management team of the Company by unanimously passing all resolutions proposed and some went so far as to chant praises as Wale Tinubu, the Group Chief Executive, Oando PLC spoke. When the floor was open to shareholders to speak some stood up to commend the management for delivering on their promise to return the Company to profitability in 2017.”
Mrs Oludewa Thorpe a member of the National Coordinating Committee of Shareholders Association said ‘Having worked tirelessly to bring the Company back from a loss position 2 years ago to 4 quarters of profitability, it is evident that the management team is interested in truly turning the Company around.’’
Alhaji Kabiru Tambari, an Oando shareholder from Sokoto state said: “I am a 100% with Oando PLC, I have been a shareholder since 1991 when the Company was Unipetrol. The current management team are truly trying their best and this is evidenced with the Company’s return to profit after a period of loss. There is no reason to ask the management team to step down, why didn’t these protestors and so called shareholder groups ask for Wale Tinubu and his management team to step down when the Company was making a loss? Why would anyone ask for them to step down today when the
Company is finally making a profit, a time when profit means the Company’s share price and shareholder investment will start going up? The technical suspension of the Company’s shares mean that we the shareholders can’t even see this profit translate to appreciation in share price so ultimately we are on the receiving end of this issue.’’
Oando several statements have disparaged the SEC’s handling of the investigation on the grounds of bias and lack of due process; penalties that far outweigh the alleged infractions and that there is no basis for the institution of a forensic audit or technical suspension in the trading of the Company’s shares.
The shareholders argue that, If the proposed forensic audit does take place, and the SEC have said it will commence in the new year then it is at a cost N160 million and will be borne by the Company which in effect means Oando shareholders.
At a time when the management team is trying to reduce overheads, pay off debt and maintain profitability they have questioned if this is the in best use of shareholders’ funds especially when there is no basis for the forensic audit.
Oando’s in a recent statement to the Nigerian Tock Exchange said new evidence, a signed report presented on September 18, 2016 by the Technical Committee set up by the suspended Director General of the SEC, Mounir Gwarzo, emerged in the media corroborating the Company’s position that under the leadership of Gwarzo actions taken by the Commission were illegal, invalid and calculated to prejudice the business of the Company.
Four members of the five-man Technical Committee, stated that Oando PLC had satisfactorily responded to all the issues raised by the Petitioners and had further recommended that the responses provided by the Company and its independent external auditors should be forwarded to the Petitioners for their information and further escalation if they deemed it necessary.
According to a statement by Oando PLC, the Report makes no recommendation for the shares of the Company to be suspended or for a forensic audit of the Company to be conducted; instead the Committee recommended that certain unresolved issues regarding the treatment of certain corporate transactions and other matters arising therefrom be forwarded to the Securities and Investment Services (SIS) department of the Commission to determine whether there was in fact a breach of the ISA or the SEC Rules.
Welcoming the appointment of the new DG of the SEC and seeking for a swift conclusion the investigation, Alhaji Kabiru Tambari, went on to say ‘’I welcome the appointment of Dr. Abdul Zubair as the acting DG of the SEC and hope this will mean a fair and swift conclusion of this investigation. More importantly I am appealing to both sides to come together to dialogue so as to avoid further devaluation of our investment and to allow the Oando management team get back to the business of effectively managing the company. ” of