Photo: Wale Tinubu (Twitter)
Nigerian oil company Oando has obtained a court order to lift the suspension of trading in its shares and halt a forensic audit planned by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), court documents seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday.
Oando’s share price was frozen at 5.99 naira on Monday until further notice, the stock exchange said after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered the audit.
The SEC suspended trading in the stock for 48 hours last week, saying it was investigating complaints about insider trading and discrepancies in its ownership structure.
“The actions taken by the SEC, the suspension of the shares of the company and the initiation of a forensic audit, are prejudicial to the company,” an Oando spokesman told Reuters.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange said it was reviewing the court processes to provide an appropriate defence against the court order.
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The SEC declined to comment, saying that it was yet to receive the court order.
By 1236 GMT, only 42,923 shares at the firm’s fixed share price of 5.99 had traded.
The company recorded no trades on Monday. A regulatory source said the freeze aimed to avoid volatile trading pending the outcome of the audit.
In an SEC letter to Oando dated October 17 the regulator accused Oando of corporate governance abuses and financial mismanagement, basing its allegations on two petitions received from Dahiru Barau Mangal and Ansbury Incorporated.
It added that it would engage accountancy firm Deloitte to lead the audit together with lawyers and stockbrokers, at a cost of 160 million naira, which would be borne by Oando.
A company source has said the petitions centred on the ownership of some Oando shares bought through an investment vehicle at the time the company acquired the Nigerian subsidiary of US oil company ConocoPhillips for $1.65 billion in 2014.
Oando has said it was aware that the regulator had received petitions but the allegations were “unsubstantiated, misleading and defamatory”.
However, it had not received any notification from the regulator querying its compliance until the recent letter, adding that it has been cooperating with the SEC since the start of its investigation in May.
In July Oando’s share price fell close to a one-month low after the regulator said it was investigating the firm’s shareholding structure following the ConocoPhillips acquisition.
Trading in Oando’s shares have also been suspended in Johannesburg, where it has a secondary listing.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")