Business

Why I fired acting SEC DG – Adeosun

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7 years ago

April 16, 2018

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The Minister of Finance Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has shed more light on the events that led to the shake-up in the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC over the weekend.

It would be recalled that some aggrieved shareholders of Oando Plc, have accused her of intruding in the regulator’s affairs, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the minister.

Adeosun revealed that the suspension of the acting DG became necessary because the DG flouted her earlier directive on the suspended Oando shares. The Acting DG, Dr. Abdul Zubair was removed over the weekend and replaced with Ms. Mary Uduk.

According to her, she had directed the Acting DG not to lift the technical suspension on the energy company’s shares the week before last until a committee comprising representatives from her ministry, SEC, the NSE and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), where Oando has a dual listing had reviewed the report of the forensic audit submitted by the team of professionals appointed by SEC to investigate the company.

She lamented that despite her directive SEC still went ahead to issue a memo to the NSE lifting the technical suspension the market regulator had placed on the shares of Oando since October last year.

Recall that the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) had last week lifted the technical suspension placed on Oando Plc shares and this has generated dissatisfaction among shareholders of the company who have requested that the report of the forensic audit be made public.

Oando has been embroiled in series of crisis since July last year following a petition to the SEC in July last year by two aggrieved shareholders Gabriel Volpi and Dahiru Mangal.

The duo accused Oando’s senior management led by Wale Tinubu and Mofe Boyo of mismanagement, a charge they denied.

Mangal has since withdrawn his petition following mediation by Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. He has also nominated Alhaji Bukar Aji as his representative on the board.

SEC had in October 2017, placed the company’s shares on full suspension in order to carry out a forensic audit. The suspension was then reduced to a partial suspension. A partial suspension means there are no changes in the price of a stock.