Economy
Investors Protest Delay in Oando Forensic Audit, Say ‘SEC Acting DG Compromised’
By Dipo Olowookere
Despite promising to commence the much-awaited forensic audit of Oando Plc, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is yet to begin the exercise.
This is already making investors in the capital market, especially shareholders of the energy company to question what was causing the delay.
Yesterday, some shareholders of the firm under the aegis of Proactive Shareholders Association of Nigeria (PSAN) and Trusted Shareholders’ Association (TSA) staged a protest in Abuja, asking the apex capital market regulator to immediately kick off the audit.
The aggrieved investors called for the immediate suspension of the management of Oando so as to allow an unhindered process.
On October 18, 2017 SEC ordered a forensic audit of Oando after a panel it set up found Oando guilty of allegations made in petitions filed by two shareholders of the firms, Mr Dahiru Mangal and Ansbury Incorporated.
However, the forensic audit was challenged by Oando at a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos and the court told Oando to take the matter to the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST), a special court established to entertain capital market disputes.
While the matter was on, Mr Mounir Gwarzo was suspended as the Director General of SEC in November by the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun.
Mr Gwarzo alleged that he was removed from the office because he refused to stop the forensic audit, a claim the Minister refuted.
The former DG was later replaced by Mr Abdul Zubair, who promised that the audit would go on as planned.
However, months after he assumed office, the forensic audit was yet to commence and shareholders of Oando are already losing their patience.
During Wednesday’s demonstration in Abuja, the investors said SEC must start the exercise so as to protect the image of the nation’s capital market.
“We cannot allow regulatory infractions to go unpunished; we cannot allow financial mismanagement to go scot-free.
“We can’t understand now why SEC, with the active connivance of the Minister of Finance, are trying to truncate the process.
“They keep on telling us that the forensic audit is still ongoing, that they still agree with it but nothing is happening. Nothing tangible has been followed up, there is nothing taking place,” Mr Mukhtar Mukhtar, Chairman of the TSA said.
He said it was time for the management of Oando Plc to go because they had spent nearly two decades in office.
He also claimed the management had appropriated some of the company’s subsidiaries, both upstream and downstream for themselves and their cronies at prices based on their estimations.
On his part, National Coordinator of PSAN, Mr Oderinde Taiwo, said Oando was “exposed to both local and foreign loans worth about N779 billion on which an interest of N15 billion was paid”.
According to him, it was “a show of the level of recklessness of the organisation.”
“We bought the last right issue they did at N98 and the right issue listed before the suspension stood at N4.95.
“When you see such a change you know that there are a lot of problems. Many of the shareholders have died with Oando doing all these things, they have killed some people directly or indirectly.
“We have come to the National Assembly because we discovered that the SEC under the present acting director general has been compromised. The man does not act confidently again, they are not forthcoming, they are just dodging.
“Let the CEO of Oando and his management team be suspended so the forensic audit can go unhindered, you can’t do a forensic audit without suspending the management of the company,” he said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira extended its positive run against the US Dollar on Wednesday, January 7, in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) as its value firmed up by 81 Kobo or 0.06 per cent to N1,418.26/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,419.07/$1.
It was not a different story for the domestic currency against the Pound Sterling in the official market as it improved by N3.63 to trade at N1,913.66/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,917.20/£1 and chalked up N3.09 on the Euro to close at N1,657.52/€1 versus Tuesday’s N1,660.31/€1.
At the GTBank forex desk, the Nigerian Naira gained N10 against the greenback yesterday to settle at N1,425/$1 versus the previous day’s N1,435/$1 and closed flat at the black market at N1,470/$1.
The Nigerian currency has continued to perform better at the spot market amid more supportive environment, though analysts have cautioned that global oil market weakness and rising domestic insecurity could hamper the trajectory.
Recent reforms in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market are beginning to yield results with CardinalStone pointing to improved price discovery, better transparency, and stronger FX liquidity as factors that are helping to stabilize the currency.
“We expect Naira to appreciate to a range of N1,350.00/$ – N1,450.00/$ in 2026, supported by improving fundamentals,” according to CardinalStone in a January forecast.
On his part, the Senior Economist at Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Mr Yemi Kale, pointed out that the Naira could trade between N1,313/$1 to a worst level of N1,650/$1 reflecting varying assumptions around oil prices, foreign-exchange (FX) inflows, inflation trends, and policy consistency.
He warned policymakers against weak oil prices or production disruptions reducing FX inflows, deepening FX liquidity crisis and forced currency devaluation.
“We expect the Naira to continue trading in line with prevailing market demand and supply conditions, supported by improving external reserves position,” Anchoria Securities Limited said in a note.
Meanwhile, foreign reserves climbed to $45.623 billion following fresh inflows from investors that participated at the OMO bills auction organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday.
In the cryptocurrency market, there was cooling in the early-January crypto rebound even as broader risk backdrop stayed supportive with a rally in global government bonds and growing bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts, with Ripple (XRP) further down by 6.4 per cent to $2.11.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 4.2 per cent to trade at $3,111.31, Cardano (ADA) shrank by 4.1 per cent to $0.3935, Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 3.6 per cent to $881.38, and Dogecoin (DOGE) depleted by 3.1 per cent to finish at $0.1432.
In addition, Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 2.8 per cent to finish at $90,015.06, Litecoin (LTC) decreased by 2.7 per cent to close at $80.72, and Solana (SOL) lost 2.6 per cent to sell $135.12, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further appreciated by 0.40 per cent on Wednesday amid signs that investors are slowing down on their appetite for local equities.
Data from Customs Street showed that traders are rebalancing their portfolios and are selling off some stocks in a profit-taking move.
A total 35 shares ended on the gainers chart, while 38 shares finished on the losers’ log, indicating a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
Union Dicon gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N8.80, Okomu Oil appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N1,204.50, Seplat also rose by 10.00 per cent to N6,171.00, NCR Nigeria improved by 9.97 per cent to N79.95, and McNichols advanced by 9.93 per cent to N4.76.
On the flip side, Cadbury Nigeria lost 10.00 per cent to sell for N63.00, Austin Laz retreated by 9.93 per cent to N5.08, Aluminium Extrusion shrank by 9.91 per cent to N19.55, Haldane McCall crashed by 9.85 per cent to N4.21, and FTN Cocoa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N6.01.
At midweek, investors transacted 1.4 billion stocks valued at N20.7 billion in 49,286 deals compared with the 759.0 million stocks worth N19.9 billion in 54,212 deals on Tuesday, representing a drop in the number of deals by 9.09 per cent, and a surge in the trading volume and value by 84.45 per cent apiece.
Universal Insurance was the busiest equity with 804.1 million units sold for N410.4 million, Linkage Assurance traded 54.9 million units worth N98.9 million, Access Holdings exchanged 29.7 million units valued at N691.5 million, Ellah Lakes exchanged 24.5 million units valued at N446.4 million, and Mutual Benefits transacted 24.5 million units worth N100.2 million.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 640.68 points to 160,591.76 points from 159,951.08 points and the market capitalisation rose by N410 billion to N102.685 trillion from N102.275 trillion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices settled lower for a second straight session on Wednesday as investors digested US President Donald Trump’s deal to import up to $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude, a move that would lift supplies to the world’s largest oil consumer.
Brent crude futures lost 74 cents or 1.2 per cent to close at $59.96 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell by $1.14 or 2 per cent to $55.99 a barrel.
Venezuela will be “turning over” between 30 million and 50 million barrels of “sanctioned oil” to the US, President Trump wrote in a social media post on Tuesday.
Reuters said the deal between US and Venezuela initially could require the rerouting of cargoes that were bound for China.
Venezuela has millions of barrels of oil loaded on tankers and in storage tanks that it has been unable to ship since mid-December due to a blockade on exports imposed by President Trump.
The blockade was part of a US pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government that culminated in American forces capturing him over the weekend.
The US also seized an empty Russian-flagged, Venezuela-linked oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday.
The M/V Bella 1 vessel was seized for sanctions violations “pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. federal court” after being tracked by a US Coast Guard cutter. The operation concludes a weeks-long chase that began in late December when the tanker abruptly turned away from Venezuela and headed into the open Atlantic to evade a US quarantine.
Crude oil inventories in the US posted a sharp draw last week, even as gasoline (petrol) and distillate stockpiles recorded sizable builds, according to new data released Wednesday by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The EIA reported that US crude stocks dropped by 3.8 million barrels to 419.1 million barrels in the week ended January 2.
US gasoline (petrol) stocks increased by 7.7 million barrels in the week, the EIA said, while distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, climbed by 5.6 million barrels in the week versus expectations for a rise of 2.1 million barrels.
Morgan Stanley analysts estimated the oil market could reach a surplus of as many as 3 million barrels per day in the first half of 2026, based on weak growth in demand last year and rising supply.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) reiterated earlier this month to pause the planned unwinding of its voluntary cuts totaling 2.9 million barrels per day, keeping that volume off the market through the first half of the year.
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