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
Food Concepts Plc neutralized the gains recorded by three securities, returning the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the negative territory with a 0.27 per cent loss on Thursday, December 4.
Yesterday, the share price of the parent company of Chicken Republic and PieXpress declined by 34 Kobo to sell at N3.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.49 per unit.
This shrank the market capitalisation of the OTC bourse by N5.72 billion to N2.136 billion from N2.142 trillion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.57 points to 3,571.53 points from 3,581.10 points.
Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 50 Kobo to N38.50 per share from N38.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 29 Kobo to sell at N55.79 per unit versus N55.50 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc added 5 Kobo to close at N4.60 per share compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N4.55 per share.
Trading data indicated that the volume of securities recorded at the session surged by 6,885.3 per cent to 4.3 million units from the 61,570 units posted a day earlier, the value of securities increased by 10,301.7 per cent to N947.2 million from N3.3 million, and the number of deals went up by 146.7 per cent to 37 deals from the 15 deals achieved in the previous trading session.
At the close of business, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 5.8 billion units for N16.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units worth N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units valued at N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The upward trend witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in recent sessions continued on Thursday as it further improved by 0.10 per cent.
This was despite investor sentiment turning bearish after the local equity market ended with 23 price gainers and 28 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N88.00, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.54, Ecobank rose by 8.53 per cent to N36.90, and Coronation Insurance grew by 8.47 per cent to N2.56.
On the flip side, Ellah Lakes depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N13.14, Eunisell Nigeria also shed 10.00 per cent to finish at N72.90, Transcorp Hotels slipped by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Omatek shrank by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 152.28 points to 145,476.15 points from 145,323.87 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N97 billion to finish at N92.726 trillion compared with the previous day’s N92.629 trillion.
Customs Street was bubbling with activities on Thursday, though the trading volume and value slightly went down, according to data.
A total of 1.9 billion stocks worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 23,369 deals during the session versus the N2.3 billion valued at N21.0 billion traded in 21,513 deals a day earlier.
This showed that the number of deals increased by 8.63 per cent, the volume of transactions depleted by 17.39 per cent, and the value of trades decreased by 8.57 per cent.
For another trading day, eTranzact led the activity chart with 1.6 billion units sold for N6.4 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 31.0 million units worth N589.3 million, GTCO exchanged 28.3 million units valued at N2.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 27.1 million units for N1.6 billion, and Ecobank traded 21.9 million units worth N744.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marginally depreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 4 amid renewed forex pressure associated with December.
At the official market yesterday, the Nigerian currency lost 0.01 per cent or 18 Kobo against the Dollar to close at N1,447.83/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.65/$1.
It was not a different scenario with the local currency in the same market segment against the Pound Sterling as it further shed N15.43 to sell for N1,930.97/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,925.08/£1 and declined against the Euro by 20 Kobo to finish at N1,688.74/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,688.54/€1.
Similarly, the Nigerian Naira lost N5 against the greenback in the black market to quote at N1,465/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,460/$1 but closed flat against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter at N1,453/$1.
Fluctuations in trading range is expected to continue during the festive season as traders expect the Nigerian currency to be stable, supported by intervention s by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)in the face of steady dollar demand.
Support is also expected in coming weeks as seasonal activities, particularly the stylised “Detty December” festivities, will see inflows that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month, according to a new report.
“As the festive Detty December season intensifies, inbound travel, tourism spending, and diaspora inflows are expected to provide moderate support for FX liquidity,” analysts at the research unit of FMDA said in its latest monthly report for November.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
Meanwhile, the crypto market was down as the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, core PCE, likely rose in September—moving in the wrong direction. However, volatility indices show no signs of major turbulence.
If the actual figure matches estimates, it would mark 55 straight months of inflation above the US central bank’s 2 per cent target. The sticky inflation would strengthen the hawkish policymakers, who are in favour of slower rate cuts.
Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 4.5 per cent to $2.08, Solana (SOL) went down by 3.8 per cent to $138.11, Litecoin (LTC) shrank by 3.1 per cent to $83.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 2.5 per cent to $0.1463, Cardano (ADA) declined by 2.1 per cent to $0.4368, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.9 per cent to $91,975.45, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 0.9 per cent to $899.41, and Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 0.7 per cent to $3,156.44, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.
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