The Securities and Exchange Commission SEC has ordered the
Group Chief Executive Officer of Oando plc, Wale Tinubu, and other board
members to resign following an investigation into the company in which they
were found culpable of wrong doing.
A statement released by the financial parastatal today
Friday May 31st, barred Tinubu and the
Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer of the company, Omamofe Boyo, from being
directors of public companies for a period of five years.
According to the statement, the Commission in 2017 had
received two petitions and upon investigation, found out that the Wale
Tinubu-led board of the company were indicted for false disclosures, market
abuses, misstatements in financial statements, internal control failures, and
corporate governance lapses stemming from poor Board oversight, irregular
approval of directors’ remuneration amongst others.
The statement in part reads
“Following the receipt of two petitions by the Commission in
2017, investigations were conducted into the activities of Oando Plc (a company
listed on the Nigerian and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges).
“Certain infractions of securities and other relevant laws
were observed. The Commission further engaged Deloitte & Touche to conduct
a forensic audit of the activities of Oando Plc.
“The general public is hereby notified of the conclusion of
the investigations of Oando Plc.
“The findings from the report revealed serious infractions
such as false disclosures, market abuses, misstatements in financial
statements, internal control failures, and corporate governance lapses stemming
from poor Board oversight, irregular approval of directors’ remuneration,
unjustified disbursements to directors and management of the company, related
party transactions not conducted at arm’s length, among others.”
The Commission also directed the payment of monetary
penalties by the company and affected individuals and directors, and refund of
improperly disbursed remuneration by the affected Board members to the company.
It said as required under Section 304 of the Investments and Securities Act
(ISA) 2007, it would refer all issues with possible criminality to the
appropriate criminal prosecuting authorities.
SEC also ordered an
Extraordinary General Meeting to be convened on or before July 1, 2019 to
appoint new directors.
