Oando enters settlement with SEC, agrees to withdraw all court cases

Oando Plc has entered into a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the overriding interest of the shareholders of the company and the capital market.

This is according to a circular released by the SEC and signed by the management of the commission.

In 2019, SEC said it found the energy company guilty of “serious infractions”, thereby barring Wale Tinubu, its chief executive officer (CEO) and Mofe Boyo, deputy CEO, from the boards of public companies for five years.

In addition, SEC instituted an interim management to appoint new board of directors and a new management team for Oando.

SEC had also stopped the directors from holding annual general meeting late last year before it finally fired them

But in a circular released on Monday, SEC noted that Oando has reached a settlement with the commission without accepting or denying liability on the following terms, immediate withdrawal of all legal actions filed by Oando and all affected directors; payment of all monetary penalties stipulated in the SEC’s letter of May 31, 2019; and an undertaking by the company to implement corporate governance improvements.

Also parts of the terms also require the submission by Oando of quarterly reports on its compliance with the terms of the settlement agreement; the Investments and Securities Act, 2007; the SEC Rules and Regulations; the National Code of Corporate Governance and the SEC Guidelines to the Code of Corporate Governance.

“Pursuant to the powers conferred on the Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) by the Investments and Securities Act 2007, and the Rules and Regulations made pursuant thereto, the Commission on Thursday, July 15, 2021, entered into a Settlement with Oando Plc (the Company),” SEC said.

“The commission in its letter to the company dated May 31, 2019, gave certain directives and imposed sanctions on the company, following investigations conducted pursuant to two petitions filed with the Commission in 2017.

“The Company and some of its affected directors had challenged the said directives in a series of suits commenced at the Federal High Court. However, the Company subsequently approached the commission for a settlement of the matter, and both parties have now agreed to settle in consideration of the impact that a further prolonged period of litigation would have on the company’s shareholders and the value of their investments as well as remedial measures to be put in place by the company in enhancing its corporate governance practices and strengthening its internal control environment.”