Economy
We’re Not Happy With State of Affairs in Oando—Shareholders
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
South-South Coordinator of the Oando Shareholders Solidarity Group (OSSG), Mr Clement Ebitimi, has expressed worry over the state of affairs in Oando Plc.
Mr Ebitimi, in a statement this week, pointed out it was on this backdrop he led some shareholders to the protest that took place on Monday, September 11, 2017 during the company’s 40th Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Ibom Hall in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
In the statement, Mr Ebitimi faulted claims by the former National Coordinator of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Sir Sunday Nwosu, that they were paid to disrupt the meeting.
According to him, “We were in the hall when we started our agitation but because we did not want to disrupt the meeting, we heeded appeals to move to the entrance so the whole world can see our agitation. The same Nwosu was one of those who came to beg us.
“We all know Nwosu is a paid agent sent to discredit our genuine expression of discontent with the state of affairs of Oando Plc.
“If we had wanted to disrupt the meeting, no one could have stopped us. Not even Nwosu and his other paid agents who are supposed to fight for the rights of shareholders but who have become sponsored agents of the management of the company.”
Mr Ebitimi noted that Monday’s protest at the AGM was a way of expressing their displeasure with situations in the leading Nigerian oil firm, describing their action as legitimate.
“We read series of newspaper reports and petitions, which showed that all was not well with the company. The issue is that the values of the shares of our members have been eroded by more than 80 per cent in recent times.
“The company has consistently reported losses over the past three years and has failed to pay dividends, yet the executives are increasing remuneration, acquiring choice properties and buying private jets.
“It doesn’t matter how much shares we have in the company. Even if it is 1,000 shares, we are bonafide shareholders and we refuse to be suppressed.
“Our members are bonafide shareholders of Oando. After the protest and assurances that our grievances would be addressed, we went back into the hall to continue the meeting,” Mr Ebitimi said in the statement.
However, at the AGM this week, hundreds of shareholders of Oando Plc, who attended the 40th AGM of the company, expressed confidence in the leadership style the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Wale Tinubu, and his team, voting unanimously to retain him and the Board of Directors.
Chairman of the board, Oba Michael Gbadebo, however, said at the event that the firm was going through a period of restructuring resulting from the prevailing global crisis in the oil and gas sector.
He added that despite the challenges, the company was on course towards becoming Africa’s most respected oil and gas company.
“As we pursue our vision to be the most respected African oil and gas company, we are experiencing a period of restructuring for sustained growth.
“We will continue on our aggressive reduction of debt to create a platform for long term profitability while driving growth via our dollar denominated upstream and downstream trading businesses.”
Before the meeting, there had been an attempt to cancel it, but the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally said the event could go on as planned.
This followed an interim report submitted by the Special Task Team set up by the capital market regulator, giving the firm the approval to carry on with the AGM.
SEC had received petitions from two shareholders of Oando; Dahiru Manga and Ansbury Inc, requesting that the event be suspended due to alleged gross financial misconduct.
But in a letter dated Thursday, August 31, 2017, which SEC wrote to Oando, it said, “Following the submission of an interim report by the Special Task Team, the Commission is of the opinion that it is unable to identify any material findings that would warrant the postponement of the Company’s 40th Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled to hold on September 11, 2017. Consequently, Oando PLC can proceed with its 40th AGM as currently scheduled.”
According to speculations, both petitioners were making efforts to remove Mr Wale Tinubu as the Group Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc.
One of the petitioners, Mr Dahiru Manga, is believed to currently hold shares worth $250 million or 17 percent stake in the company, but allegedly wanted Mr Tinubu out by all means.
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.
