Economy
SEC Must Audit Oando Despite Peace Deal with Mangal—Shareholders Insist
By Dipo Olowookere
Shareholders of Oando Plc under the umbrella of Oando Shareholders Solidarity Group (OSSG) have maintained that the planned forensic audit of the company by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must continue despite the peace accord between the oil firm and Mr Dahiru Mangal, one of the shareholders, who wrote a petition to SEC against Oando.
Making their position known in a statement issued on Tuesday, the shareholders, under the leadership of Mr Clement Ebitimi, emphasised that the exercise must not be thrown away because Mr Mangal has settled with the leadership of Oando.
This month, a respected Northern monarch and former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Emir Muhammadu Sanusu of Kano, brokered a peace between Mr Mangal and Mr Adewale Tinubu, the Group CEO of Oando.
As part of the agreement, Mr Mangal dropped his case against Oando at SEC, while the oil firm gave him a slot in the board.
The shareholders said they have no problem with the peace accord, but the forensic audit must continue as earlier planned.
Mr Ebitimi said in the statement that, “For the avoidance of doubt, the forensic audit of Oando ordered by SEC is not about Alhaji Dahiru Mangal. The audit is about series of infractions of the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2007 uncovered in the company by a preliminary investigation ordered by SEC.
“SEC’s preliminary findings established serious concern to the existence of corporate governance, gross abuse of corporate governance and series of manipulations and financial management in Oando Plc.
“The alleged infractions include breach of the SEC Code of Corporate Governance; Breach of ISA 2007 on Disposal of Oando Exploration & Production Limited (OEPL) by Oando Plc 2013; Breach of ISA 2007: Misstatements in the 2013 and 2014 Audited financial statement of Oando Plc arising from the OEPL transaction; Breach of ISA on Misleading Information contained in Oando Plc’s 2014 Rights Issue Circular; Breach of SEC Rules and Regulations on Payment of Dividends; and the Auditor’s doubt over the ability of Oando to continue as a Going Concern.
“SEC’s preliminary investigation also unearthed suspected insider dealing, in which the Commission observed that certain persons classified as insiders within the provisions of Section 315 of the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2007 and who were in possession of confidential price sensitive information not generally available to the public, had between January and October 2015, traded on Oando Plc shares prior to the release of the company’s 2014 Financial Statement, where the company reported a loss of N183 billion.”
He further argued that a letter written by SEC to Oando on October 17, 2017, also established instances of related party transactions where the Commission identified certain related party transactions and observed that they were not conducted on arm’s length basis as required by law.
“According to SEC’s findings, Oando also declared dividend in 2013 and 2014 from unrealised profits,” the OSSG Coordinator said, adding that the allegations against the company are weighty and are not about a shareholder.
“The House of Representatives has issued a clear directive to SEC to investigate these infractions.
“The Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, in exonerating herself from attempts to stall the forensic audit, has also stated that the Oando management has a case to answer with regards to infractions of the ISA 2007.
“We hereby call on Emir Muhammadu Sanusi not to interfere in the legitimate process of instilling sanity in Oando and in the capital market.
“When he meted out severe disciplinary measures against some bank CEOs in the banking industry during his tenure as Central Bank of Nigeria Governor in 2009, no one interfered with his job.
“SEC’s primary role as the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market is to regulate market participants and protect the investing public. This must not be compromised by any means.
“The Commission rightly noted that its earlier findings are weighty and therefore needs to be further investigated to ascertain their veracity or otherwise; hence the forensic audit.
“Shareholders deserve to know the true state of affairs of their company. Investors are watching; the world is watching and we will not allow this matter to rest until the right thing is done.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil prices edged up on possible disruptions from a US blockade of Venezuelan tankers as the market waits for news about a possible Russia-Ukraine peace deal.
Brent futures rose 65 cents or 1.1 per cent to $60.47 per barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures expanded by 51 cents or 0.9 per cent to $56.66 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI were down about 1 per cent this week after both crude benchmarks fell about 4 per cent last week.
US President Donald Trump said he was leaving the possibility of war with Venezuela on the table, noting that there would be additional seizures of oil tankers near Venezuelan waters after the US seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela last week.
The American President this week ordered a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in the US’ latest move to increase pressure on Nicolas Maduro’s government, targeting its main source of income. The pressure campaign on President Maduro has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have killed at least 90 people.
President Trump has also previously said that US land strikes on the South American country will soon start.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said that the US is not concerned about an escalation with Russia when it comes to Venezuela, as the Trump administration builds up military forces in the Caribbean.
This development comes as President Trump seeks an end to the unending war between Ukraine and Russia that is heading towards its fourth year.
European Union leaders decided on Friday to borrow cash to loan 90 billion Euros to Ukraine to fund its defense against Russia for the next two years as Russian President Vladimir Putin offered no compromise on Friday on his terms for ending the war in Ukraine and accused the European Union of attempting “daylight robbery” of Russian assets.
Ukraine, meanwhile, struck a Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea with aerial drones for the first time.
Earlier this week, the US and Ukraine both signaled progress in negotiations about a peace agreement during talks in German capital city of Berlin. The US is now reportedly offering Ukraine security guarantees modeled on NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense pledge.
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