The Federal High Court, Lagos Division, has further adjourned the hearing in the petition filed by 14 shareholders of energy group, Oando Plc to 17th April 2024.
This was contained in a corporate notice filed by the group with the Nigerian Exchange Limited and seen by Nairametrics.
The statement signed by Company Secretary, Ayotola Jagun, noted that the court further adjourned the hearing of the petition filed on March 25, 2021, by 14 shareholders of the Company to 17th April 2024.
The adjournment to 17th April 2024 according to the company was for the Court to hear pending applications brought before it by certain shareholders seeking to be joined to the Petition and challenging the Court’s order dated June 7, 2022, which among other orders, directed the Company to file its Scheme of Arrangement document with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the NGX within 30 days.
The statement reads:
- “Oando Plc, Nigeria’s leading indigenous energy group listed on both the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), hereby wishes to notify the public and its shareholders that the Federal High Court, Lagos Division has further adjourned the petition in Suit No: FHC/L/CP/494/2021-Venus Construction Company Limited &13 others vs. Ocean and Oil Development Partners Limited and Oando PLC, which was filed in Court on March 25, 2021 (the “Petition”) to April 17th 2024.
- The adjournment to 17th April 2024 is for the Court to hear pending applications brought before it by certain shareholders seeking to be joined to the Petition and challenging the Court’s order dated June 7, 2022, which among other orders, directed the Company to file its Scheme of Arrangement document (the “Scheme Document”) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the NGX within 30 days”.
Nairametrics reported that the Federal High Court in Lagos on December 2023 further postponed the hearing for the petition filed by 14 shareholders of Oando Plc, making the third time it has been adjourned during the year.
This is according to a corporate disclosure filed on the NGX website and signed by Oando’s Company Secretary, Ayotola Jagun. It is noted that the adjournment was to allow the company to produce a report of compliance with the Court’s order dated June 7, 2022, which requires it to submit its Scheme of Arrangement document to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the NGX within 30 days, along with other instructions.
What you should know
The case against Oando Plc was filed on March 25, 2021, as the minority shareholders of the company filed a petition for Oando requesting a buyout of their entire shareholding either by OODP or Oando Plc. However, Oando filed a cross-petition expressing its readiness to buy out all the minority shareholders of Oando via a court-ordered Scheme of Arrangement.
In March 2023, Oando announced its decision to delist from the NGX and JSE, however, this is subject to approval from the company’s shareholders as well as the Federal High Court. With this court case, the process of delisting has been turbulent hence Oando’s shares are still trading in the NGX.
Oando closed its trading day on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, at N13.20 per share on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX), recording an 8.3% drop from its previous closing price of N14.40. Oando began the year with a share price of N10.50 and has since gained 25.7% on price valuation.
Can’t a good Nigerian or members of national assembly or presidency intervene to safeguard the interest of minority shareholders and prevent them from being oppressed. In whatever we do we should remember the last day. Good name is better than riches. By now the share price should have been more than #150.