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By Adewale Sanyaolu
The last may not have been heard of the Boardroom crises rocking Nigeria’s indigenous oil and gas production company, Seplat Energy Plc, as its co-founder and immediate past Chairman Mr. Ambrose Orjiako, at the weekend denied allegations of infraction leveled against him by the firm.
The Board of Seplat Energy had last week announced the termination of the consultancy agreement between Orjiako, acting through Amaze Limited.
This was coming barely three weeks after the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, revoked the work permit, visa, and residency permit of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Seplat Energy Plc, Mr. Roger Brown, over allegations of racism, preference of foreign workers and discriminating against Nigerian employees leveled against him by workers of the company.
Brown later stepped down from office following the order of a Federal High Court in Lagos. The court restrained Brown from parading himself as the firm’s CEO pending the determination of a suit filed against him and others by aggrieved stakeholders of the company.
Under the consultancy agreement, Orjiako was obliged to provide defined assistance with certain external stakeholder engagements following his retirement from the Board after the 2022 Annual General Meeting in May 2022.
A statement by Seplat’s Chairman, Mr. Basil Omiyi, to the London and Nigerian Exchange Limited explained that the termination follows the suspension of the consultancy agreement on February 13, 2023, as unanimously approved by the Board of Directors, following repeated warnings about breaches of a material nature, such as unilaterally making significant commitments on Seplat’s letterhead without prior Board authority or knowledge.
Seplat filed a writ of summons before the Federal High Court in Abuja, suing the ex-chairman for damages amounting to N5bn.
Orjiako in a statement by his legal adviser, Senator Ikechukwu Obiorah, further denied any wrongdoing in the letter he initiated to the Federal Government to facilitate the consummation of the lingering $1.3bn Mobil sales deal.
He said he acted within the scope of his mandate for the benefit of the company, stressing that the energy firm was already benefitting from the values created by the letter to the presidency.
Orjiako also said he had instructed his lawyers to take the necessary legal steps, including seeking appropriate damages from those behind what he described as a “mischief.”
The statement reads in part, “The attention of Dr. Ambrose Orjiako, the pioneer Chairman of Seplat Energy Plc, has been drawn to the various malicious newspaper publications, the last being of the so called law suit filed by some persons claiming to be acting in the interest of the company.
“He had hitherto refrained from joining them in the unfortunate affray. It has, however, become necessary to let the public be aware of the mischief of these individuals who have masked their personal interest over that of the wellbeing of Seplat, a company that has earned a notable repute.
“Orjiako, the co-founder of Seplat, under the written authorisation of the Board of Directors of Seplat, had the mandate to manage certain specific stakeholders of the company in respect of the transaction which necessitated the subject communication.”
He argued that the letter referenced in the publications was written following appropriate discussions and was strictly for and in the best interest of Seplat.
“Also, the authorisation in the said letter expressly identifies Orjiako as the pioneer chairman,” the statement added.
It said the public should therefore not lay any credence on to law suit and the sensational publications the suit was filed to achieve.
