SEC Vs Oando: Court fixes Dec 15 for ruling over suspension

Ruling in a motion filed by an oil firm, Oando Plc, seeking preservative orders in a suit it filed to challenge the technical suspension imposed on its shares on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to allow for a forensic auditing of its books, has been fixed by a Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Justice Rilwan Aikawa, yesterday, fixed December 15 for ruling after listening to submissions of lawyers in the suit.

Oando wants the court to grant the injunction pending the outcome of an appeal it lodged against the transfer of the suit to the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST) by the judge.

Justice Aikawa had in a ruling on November 23, struck out Oando’s suit, saying he has no jurisdiction to entertain it. The judge said the appropriate forum for the oil firm to ventilate its grievances is the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST).

Dissatisfied with the ruling, Oando, through its lawyer, Seyi Sowemimo (SAN), went before the Court of Appeal insisting that the Federal High Court rather than the IST was the appropriate forum to hear the case. The oil firm equally filed a motion before the lower court seeking an injunction to preserve the ‘res’ pending the final determination of its appeal.

Arguing a counter-affidavit filed by the apex market regulator against Oando’s motion, SEC’s lawyer, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN) noted that a motion for injunction calls for the exercise of the court’s jurisdiction.

He argued that for the motion to scale through, the applicant (Oando Plc) must show exceptional circumstances on why it think the court has jurisdiction to entertain it. The silk was of the view that the court had already delivered a declarative judgement in the matter and that there was nothing again to be stayed.

“The court is ‘functus officio’ after delivering judgement in the matter and we are entitled to the fruits of the judgement which is basically the preservation of the interests of Oando’s shareholders.

“Oando should go to the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST) to seek the injunction it is seeking for. They have not told the court why they cannot go to the IST. Granting any injunction will be at the risk of the investing public’s interests.

“They have equally not told the court what they will suffer if the forensic audit is done. We urged the court not to grant this request”, Idigbe said.

Lawyer to the second defendant, the NSE, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde, SAN, while aligning himself with Idigbe’s submissions also asked the court to dismiss the Oando’s motion and affirmed its earlier ruling.

However, in his submissions, Oando’s lawyer, Sowemimo, while urging the court to grant the motion said it was predicated on his client’s constitutionally guaranteed rights of appeal.

According to him, the ‘res’ Oando is asking the judge to preserve is the integrity of the appeal and not the fruits of the contentious ruling delivered by the court as claimed by the respondents.

He argued that “if the ‘res’ is not preserved, the appeal will be overreached and rendered nugatory”.

He added that contrary to claims by the respondents, SEC is yet to undertake the forensic examination as the apex market regulator is still expecting Oando to provide the experts with materials to work with.

SEC had earlier issued a directive to the NSE for a full suspension in the trading of Oando shares for a period of forty-eight hours. This was followed by a technical suspension.

The apex market regulator later announced that a forensic audit into the affairs of the company will be conducted by a team of independent professional firms.

Peter Fowoyo