Oando Plc has entered into an out of court settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Gatekeepers News reports that Oando Plc has entered into an out of court settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the overriding interest of the shareholders of the company and the capital market.
This was disclosed in a circular released by the SEC and signed by the management of the commission.
In 2019, SEC noted that it found the energy company guilty of “serious infractions”, thereby barring its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Wale Tinubu, and its deputy CEO, Mofe Boyo from the boards of public companies for five years.
The dispute led SEC to the institution of interim management to appoint a new board of directors and a new management team for Oando.
In addition, SEC stopped directors from holding the Annual General Meeting (AGM) late last year before it finally fired them.
However, SEC in a circular released on Monday, noted that Oando has reached a settlement with the commission on the following terms: immediate withdrawal of all legal actions filed by the 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.
Parts of the terms also required the submission by Oando’s 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.
SEC said, “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).
“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.
