The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has directed the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to place the shares of Oando Plc on a full suspension for 48 hours, effective Wednesday, and technical suspension from Friday, October 20.
SEC explained that the action is to enable it conduct a forensic audit into the affairs of Oando Plc following two petitions from Alhaji Dahiru Barau Mangal and Ansbury Incorporated alleging financial mismanagement.
The two shareholders had petitioned SEC, claiming majority ownership in Oando Plc, warning that the company was being mismanaged by the management led by Mr. Wale Tinubu, Oando’s Group CEO.
They had sought the removal of Tinubu and Omomofe Boyo as the Group CEO and Deputy Group CEO, respectively, of the company so as to save it from going under.
In a statement, SEC said that it carried out a comprehensive review of the petitions and found: a breach of the provisions of the Investments & Securities Act 2007; breach of the SEC Code of Corporate Governance for Public Companies; suspected insider dealing; suspected related party transactions not conducted at arm’s length and discrepancies in the shareholding structure of Oando Plc, among others.
It noted: “The commission’s primary role as apex regulator of the Nigerian capital market is to regulate the market and protect the investing public. The commission notes that the above findings are weighty and therefore needs to be further investigated. After due consideration, the commission believes that it is necessary to conduct a forensic audit into the affairs of Oando Plc. This is pursuant to the statutory duties of the Commission as provided in section 13(k), (n), (r) and (aa) of the ISA 2017.
“To ensure the independence and transparency of the exercise, the forensic audit shall be conducted by a consortium of experts made up of auditors, lawyers, stockbrokers and registrars.
“However, in view of the fact that it is not technologically feasible for the exchange to effect a technical suspension except after 48 hours, the Commission directed as follows. Effective for 48 hours from today, 18 October 2017 to 20 October 2017, the NSE should implement a full suspension in the trading of the shares of Oando Plc and effective from 20 October 2017 and until further directive, the exchange should implement a technical suspension in the shares of Oando Plc.”
The shares of Oando Plc closed at N5.99 on Tuesday. The stock had hit a year high of N9.57 before the negative reactions from investors over the petitions led to fall in the price to the current level.
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