The management of energy giant, Oando Plc, listed on the Nigerian and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges on Friday decried news report alleging that it is “under a comprehensive investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission… following petitions filed by some” of its foreign investors.
A statement to the Exchange, signed by Ayotola Jagun, the group’s Chief Compliance Officer & Company Secretary, described claims in the said petition under reference, regarding the $1.65bn cash paid in June 2014 for the oil production assets of Conoco-Phillips in Nigeria as “unsubstantiated, misleading and defamatory.”
In any case, it said the various matters had already received board, shareholder and where necessary, SEC approvals, assuring market stakeholders of its continued cooperation with the commission “by providing all appropriate clarifications and rebuttals on the matters raised in the said correspondence.”
The statement promised to provide full disclosure of the outcome of the SEC’s findings when the review is completed.
While stressing that Oando’s corporate communications team is available to respond to enquiries by the public and media, the statement expressed concerns about media houses going public with information “without first obtaining a balanced view as this may in some cases lead to the publication of unconfirmed, misleading and damaging information.”
Being a is a public listed company quoted on two bourses, the statement warned that “any damaging information in the public domain could have a material impact on the Company,” demanding an immediate retraction of the report, even as it urged the media to refrain and/or desist from further publications in future, without first verifying the accuracy of such facts from Oando.