Oando challenges SEC’s findings, accuses Gwarzo of bias

Oando Plc continued its legal battle with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) on its alleged findings and sanctions following an investigation into the company, which began in May 2017.
In its latest move, the company has gone to the Court of Appeal to challenge SEC’s sanctions, specifically the technical suspension of its shares and a forensic audit into its operations. In a press statement published on Oando’s website on Friday, in addition to legal action, it has written several petitions to various arms of the government expressing concern at the way SEC, under the leadership of ex-Director General, Mounir Gwarzo, managed the investigation and its belief that the investigation was biased, and did not follow due process.
The company said that a recent leak of a memo signed September 18, 2017 report of the Technical Committee that was set up by Gwarzo to investigate Oando was a further proof that under his leadership, actions taken by the Commission were illegal, invalid and calculated to prejudice the business of the company.
Gwarzo had set up a five-man committee to investigate the company and on conclusion present a report with findings and recommendations for sanctions; the report shows that the committee found that Oando had satisfactorily responded to all the issues raised by the petitioners and had further recommended that the responses provided by the company and its independent external auditors be forwarded to the petitioners for their information and further escalation if they deemed it necessary.  The report makes no recommendation for the shares of the company to be suspended or for a forensic audit of the company to be conducted; instead, the committee recommended that certain unresolved issues be forwarded to the Securities and Investment Services (SIS) Department of the commission to determine whether there was, in fact, a breach of the ISA or the SEC Rules.
On September 27, 2017, the Committee of the House of Representatives on Capital Markets and Institutions summoned Gwarzo and mandated him to complete his investigation into Oando and issue a report within two weeks of that meeting. It also requested that it be sent a copy of the report of the investigation, its findings and recommendations.
The embattled company however alleged that Gwarzo failed to inform the House of Representatives that at the time the meeting was held, the signed Technical Committee report had already been submitted. It was after a month that SEC published a statement on its website detailing alleged infractions committed by Oando and weighty penalties, which included a directive to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for a 48-hour full suspension followed by a technical suspension in the trading of Oando shares and for a forensic audit into the affairs of the company to be conducted.
Against this background, the company cites a multitude of other reasons why it believes the investigation was biased and thus flawed.