The leadership of Nigeria’s most recognizable indigenous oil and gas company, Oando, may soon be replaced if some of the company’s shareholders have their way.
The crisis is triggered by Oando’s huge losses occasioned by their $1.5 billion acquisition of Conoco Philips upstream assets in Nigeria in 2014.
A petition by two of Oando’s shareholders triggered a Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) investigation into the oil firm, Independent is reporting.
The two petitioners are Dahiru Mangal and Volpi.
Aside the petition, both petitioners have filed at least four lawsuits against Oando following a failed business transaction in which the firm acquired oil infrastructure from ConocoPhillips in Nigeria. The deal cost Oando $1.5 billion. Volpi reportedly gave Oando $900 million to effect the deal.
In addition, Mangal reportedly contributed $250 million while Atiku Abubakar contributed $50 million to the purchase, which allegedly proved a disastrous investment for Oando. The petitioners are alleging mismanagement and fraud on the part of the company’s operators.
A source at SEC told INDEPENDENT that the commission’s investigators had so far found evidence that Oando had “been cooking its books for the past six years, creating the impression that it was making a profit when in fact the company was swimming in debts and overburdened by mismanagement.”
Tinubu is believed to be neck deep in Oando’s financial and investment crisis. Our SEC source stated that Tinubu’s stake in the company fell to a minuscule one percent after he secured funds from Volpi, Atiku, and Mangal.
While reacting to the petition on Monday, the management of Oando informed the management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) that the two petitions were filed with the SEC, alleging gross abuse of corporate governance and financial mismanagement and that SEC has since commenced an enquiry in response to the petitions.
“The company’s position remains that these petitions have no merit as the issues raised have received board, shareholders and where required SEC’s approval. Other matters highlighted by the petitioners could have been directed to the company and would have received the necessary clarification”, the company said.