Nigerian integrated oil and gas firm, Oando Plc, confirmed on Wednesday that it has now obtained SEC approval to proceed with its AGM, scheduled to hold on the 11th of September, 2017.
The company confirmed this via its twitter handle.
SEC clears Oando, AGM to hold as planned. pic.twitter.com/Z1vCtUHGOe
— Oando PLC (@Oando_PLC) September 6, 2017
According to a letter dated August 31, 2017 and sent to the company by the Security and Exchange Commission, which was seen by Nairametrics, the SEC stated that
“Following the submission of an interim report by the Special Task Team the commission is of the opinion that it is unable to identify any material findings that would warrant the postponement of the Company’s 40th Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled to hold on September, 2017. Consequently Oando Plc can proceed with its 40th AGM as currently scheduled.”
Background of the matter
News first broke last July that the Security and Exchange Commission had received a petition from some “shareholders of the company ” around a “petition/investigation of Oando transactions/trades.” Oando promptly debunked the reporting leading to the story being withdrawn by Channels TV (who broke the story).
Oando later revealed on August 28, 2017 that two petitions were filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleging gross abuse of corporate governance and financial mismanagement.
It also alleged that one of the petitioners, Ansbury Plc was not a shareholder in Oando but a shareholder in a company domiciled outside the country which in turn holds shares in a Nigerian investment company that has shares in Oando.
It also said that the second petitioner is Alhaji Dahiru Mangal requested
clarification from the SEC on issues which he could easily have obtained from the
Company. They also claimed that Alhaji Mangal indicated in his petition that he holds a 17.9 % interest in Oando, of which 4% in his personal capacity. They further claimed that he was yet to disclose his beneficial ownership of 13.9%, in accordance with the Corporate and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). Failure to do so is a violation of the act, and that Oando has written to inform both SEC and Alhaji Mangal.
Will the AGM proceed
Based on the letter cited by Nairametrics, it does appear that the AGM will proceed on the 11th of September as stated. Oando’s share price fell 1.06% to N6.53 at the end of trading on Wednesday, 6th September.
Our take
We do not have any take on the matter at the moment as we are still processing the flurry of information we have on this issue. We have also not heard from the petitioners on what exactly the content of their petition is and whether they have accepted SEC’s decision or if they plan to appeal.
