Dr. Abdul Zubair, acting Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on Tuesday said the firm of Deloitte has been told to proceed with the forensic audit of energy giant- Oando Plc.

Briefing newsmen, Zubair said this followed the dismissal and the striking out of the suits instituted by the company and some of its shareholders.

He recalled that two lawsuits were filed by Oando Plc and some of its shareholders, mainly to restrain the commission and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) from effecting a technical suspension on the company’s shares and the SEC from appointing the team of forensic auditors.

The company, Zubair continued, withdrew the pending lawsuit against the commission by an application heard and granted by the Court of Appeal on (Monday) March 5, 2018, just as “the application for withdrawal by the shareholders was heard and granted by the Federal High Court on February 21, 2018.”

While reassure the general public that following the removal of the legal impediments, the audit of Oando Plc will proceed in a transparent and thorough manner, Zubair restated the commission’s “committed to its primary mandate of protecting investors and will take all necessary steps to fulfil that mandate and uphold the integrity of the capital market.”

He recalled that the commission in 2017 conducted a preliminary investigation of Oando Plc based on petitions received from its shareholders and a whistleblower and that based on some of the findings therefrom. The commission then took steps to preserve shareholder value and protect the investing public by placing the shares of Oando Plc on technical suspension and ordered a forensic audit of the affairs of Oando Plc.