Minority Shareholders Accuse SEC of Shielding Oando from Probe

Minority shareholders of Oando Plc under the aegis of the Proactive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PROSAN) have petitioned the House Committee on Capital Market and other Institutions, accusing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of shielding Oando Plc from probe.

The allegation was contained in a fresh petition, signed by Mr. Taiwo Oderinde and Barrister Nnodu Okeke, the National Coordinator and Legal Adviser respectively of the association, dated February 21, 2018 and titled ‘Dangerous and Malicious Deliberate Attempts By the acting Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to Cover-up Oando Nigeria Plc and Protect the Company from Forensic Audit’.

While commending the House Committee on its unrelenting efforts to sanitise the Nigerian capital market and to make it one of the best in the world, PROSAN said the time had come to take decisive action on the forensic audit of Oando Plc.

PROSAN had earlier petitioned to the lawmakers on the state of Oando Plc, prompting them to direct the SEC to investigate various allegations against the oil giant.

The shareholders further added: “Being the regulator that is primarily responsible for protecting Investors in the Capital market, SEC instituted a consortium of experts commissioned to carry out a forensic audit on the company.”

They alleged: “Upon the announcement of the consortium, the management of Oando Nigeria Plc has continued to desperately explore diverse avenues to frustrate the forensic audit, which the management of the company clearly fears would reveal more than is already known.

“The company sought to stop the forensic audit by challenging the decision in court, but appropriate justice was delivered and the company lost,” the petition stated.

“Since Mr. Munir Gwarzo was suspended as the DirectorGeneral of SEC by the Minister