Oando Nigeria Plc has refuted media reports (not The Daily Times Nigeria) that the company is currently under investigation for corporate governance breaches, a report the company said was published without verification of facts from the company.
The company however admitted knowledge of petition against the firms to the apex capital market regulator, which it alleged made frivolous claims over issues that have been sanctioned by the company’s board and shareholders.
Demanding for retraction of the report, the company said “We therefore demand an immediate retraction of the report and urge media houses to refrain and/or desist from further publications in future, without first verifying the accuracy of such facts from Oando”.
Oando in a statement signed by Ayotola Jagun, Chief Compliance Officer & Company Secretary, made available to Daily Times Nigeria, noted that the company’s attention has been drawn to a recent report on ongoing probe of the company by the SEC and wishes to discountenance the report as unsubstantiated.
Our attention has been drawn to a report released by Channels TV on Friday the 14th day of July, 2017 stating that Oando PLC is under a comprehensive investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, following petitions filed by some foreign investors in Oando Nigeria PLC, in relation shareholding structure following the 1.65 billion Dollars cash that Oando paid in June 2014 to acquire the oil production assets of Conoco-Phillips in Nigeri.
Reacting to the development , Oando said in the release “The Company understands that the SEC is in receipt of correspondence containing (in our opinion) unsubstantiated, misleading and defamatory claims with respect to various matters that had already received board, shareholder and where required SEC approval.
The company further stated that it is fully co-operating with the SEC in the discharge of its duties as the capital markets regulator by providing all appropriate clarifications and rebuttals on the matters raised in the said correspondence.
Assuring the public of its readiness to provide any information regarding to the development, the statement assured that “Oando will be happy to provide full disclosure of the outcome as soon as the SEC review is completed”
Oando’s corporate communications team, the company assured, is always available to respond to any enquiries by members of the public and media. The Company is concerned about media houses going public with information without first obtaining a balanced view as this may in some cases lead to the publication of unconfirmed, misleading and damaging information.
Oando is a public listed company quoted on both the Nigerian and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges and any damaging information in the public domain could have a material impact on the Company.
Ends.
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