Oando Audit Still Intact Despite Peace Accord—SEC

By Dipo Olowookere

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has allayed concerns of stakeholders, especially shareholders of Oando Plc that the recent peace accord reached between Mr Adewale Tinubu and Mr Dahiru Mangal, will put an end to the planned forensic audit of the oil firm.

Mr Tinubu is the Group chief executive of Oando Plc, while Mr Mangal is one of the main shareholders of the company.

Mr Mangal had written a petition to SEC against Oando, alleging gross misconduct. A panel was thereafter set up by the nation’s capital market apex regulator to look into the allegations and the firm was found guilty of some violations, which led to its suspension on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and an audit also ordered.

However, Oando took the matter to a Federal High Court in Lagos in order to stop the audit and it lost. The court told Oando to approach the Investments and Securities Tribunal (IST), the body set up to handle capital market disputes.

Last week, a peace deal was brokered and Mr Mangal dropped his case at SEC with a slot given to him on Oando board.

But shareholders of Oando, which did not kick against the peace accord, said on Tuesday in a statement that it would not accept the forensic audit stopped and urged SEC not to throw the process into the bin.

Speaking with Punch in a phone chat, a top official of SEC in Abuja, who asked not to be named, said the audit will go on as earlier planned.

The source was quoted to have said the case between the regulator and Oando, which is currently in court, had not been concluded.

“As of today, we are still going on with the forensic audit. Of course, we are still in court with Oando,” the unnamed SEC official was quoted as saying.