Economy
Reps Order SEC to Complete Oando Probe in 2 Weeks
By Dipo Olowookere
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been given two weeks to complete its investigations into petitions against one of the leading oil and gas firms in Nigeria, Oando Plc.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market and Institutions held a closed door meeting with the Director-General of SEC, Mr Mounir Gwarzo, on the matter.
Recall that Ansbury Inc. and Mangal wrote petitions to the capital market regulator, alleging the board of Oando Plc led by Mr Wale Tinubu, of gross financial misconduct.
The two parties had earlier wanted SEC to stop the 40th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the firm, but the regulator, after a panel report, said it found no reason to suspend the AGM.
The meeting eventually held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom on Monday, September 11, 2017, and shareholders voted to retain Mr Tinubu as Group Chief Executive.
After yesterday’s closed door meeting, Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, Mr Tony Nwulu, informed newsmen that SEC has been given a two-week ultimatum to close out its investigations on Oando and report back to it.
“We just finished our meeting. SEC has set up a committee to look into the ongoing issues. We believe that the committee will come up with their recommendations.
“The House Committee on Capital Market has given them two weeks to come up with that report,” the lawmaker said.
At the start of the hearing, the Committee Chairman asked that all media and other third parties to step out of the room to allow the ongoing enquiry be discussed in private with the DG of the SEC.
The strict timeline that the Committee has given for the enquiry to be concluded is another positive as this case has dragged on for nearly five months and played out in the media for three months, in that time Oando shareholders have seen a significant loss in the value of their shares.
Meanwhile, some shareholders of Oando Plc have expressed satisfaction with the latest development.
According to an anonymous shareholder, who was hoping to sit in on the hearing, “I am hopeful that this new development will help resolve the issue in favour of all shareholders of the company, as we all want to see a conclusion that is in the interests of both we the shareholders and the future of the company.’’
It was gathered that some people claiming to be shareholders of the company attempted to protest outside the National Assembly complex but they were advised to utilize the formal process for making complaints to the House Committee.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
