Ellah Lakes Plc has confirmed the appointment of a ‘new’ Managing Director who will be replacing Frank Ellah. The announcement comes five months after Nairametrics discovered a discrepancy in Ellah Lakes‘ management team after a new Executive Director took charge without prior information to the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
While the company disclosed that the ‘new’ appointment took effect on June 12, 2019, Chuka Mordi, the supposed ‘new’ Managing Director, had been playing the role of an Executive Director since December 2018.
Nairametrics discovered that Mordi had been operating as an Executive Director for Ellah Lake with his signature appended on the company’s Unaudited Financial Statements for the period ended October 31, 2018. In the result under review, his name was followed with the position of an Executive Director. The company had reported a loss in its Gross Profit and Operating Profit in the result.
The grey area here is that as a listed company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, it is mandatory for Ellah Lakes Plc to announce/inform the public of any changes made in the company’s management. The official information centre for all listed companies to make public announcements is on the NSE‘s website. This, therefore, shows that the company abused a major requirement by officially publishing the information five months after the fact.
Also note that while the company addressed Mordi’s as the Executive Director, the company’s website only identified him as just a director.
Prior to joining Ellah Lakes, Mordi was formerly the Director in Telluria Limited before Ellah Lakes acquired Telluria. While the full details of the agreement are not known, the appointment of Mordi to replace Ellah (who has been heading the company since 2008) is pictured as one of the requirements in sealing the deal.
Ellah Lakes agreed to a joint business to strengthen the company’s balance sheet, restore customer confidence, provide access to new markets while enhancing operations that will ultimately drive profitability and deliver value to shareholders.
Reacting to his appointment, Mordi said the plan is to put Ellah Lakes back on the path of growth, adding that the combination of Ellah Lakes and Telluria establishes a platform with a significant existing land portfolio.
“I am very excited to be taking up the position of Ellah Lakes Managing Director. The combination of Ellah Lakes and Telluria establishes a platform with a significant existing land portfolio, access to finance and investments in the domestic production of oil palm, & a variety of cash crops. I look forward to an exciting future as we put Ellah Lakes back on a path to growth.”
Mordi’s portfolio is outstanding and satisfactory to Ellah Lakes;
Mordi is Managing Partner of CBO Investment Management, a private equity arm of CBO Capital Partners Limited, specialising in growth, turnaround, and Brownfield investments.
- Mordi has been responsible for oversight of the CBO’s management and investment activities and currently sits on the boards of CBO portfolio companies.
- He led the firm’s efforts in publishing and distributing proprietary Africa macro and sector research, producing investment conferences, and developing active CSR programs.
- Mordi began his career as an Equities Analyst at SBC Warburg, before moving to Hardman & Co. Ltd. where he focused on UK AIM stocks.
- At InterSec Research Corp. he led the Global Investment Management Research Team for Europe (UK) & the Far East (Japan &Singapore).
- At Societe Generale Asset Management (SGAM) UK, he covered European Emerging Market Equities and worked on Asset Allocation and Economic analysis.
- Prior to launching CBO Investment Management in 2009, Mordi was Head of Infrastructure Financing at First City Monument Bank. Mordi holds a Philosophy degree from King’s College, University of London.
About Ellah Lakes Plc: The company was one of Nigeria’s foremost agriculture businesses, specialising in Fish Farming. It was incorporated on July 2nd, 1980 and was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on January 14th, 1993. Ellah Lakes acquired Telluria in order to diversify its product offerings in the AgriBusiness sector.