The Securities and Exchange Commission in a brazen show of high handedness and a total disregard for the Nigerian justice system which they are sworn to uphold, has disregarded the directives of the Federal High Court, Lagos to suspend the implementation of sanctions against Oando PLC.
As at 3pm on Thursday, it was gathered that armed security personnel, on the directive of the SEC, still remain at the Oando’s head office building.
The armed security personnel took over the company’s Ozumba Mbadiwe office on Monday, June 3 and are yet to leave the office premises in compliance with the high court directives halting the Security and Exchange commission (SEC) from taking over the management of the oil and Gas Company.
A letter from the Lagos Commissioner of Police noted that the armed officers were sent to the Oando’s office on the directives of the SEC Director General (DG) to maintain law and order.
According to the report that was widely circulated on Monday, the presence of the armed men caused widespread alarm and panic amongst the Oando employees present at the office building on the first day of the week.
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An employee of one of the corporate tenants at the Wings Office Complex where Oando’s head office is located said he was taken by surprise when he got to the office on Monday to see so many armed personnel in the ground floor reception. “It just seemed odd when I saw all these policemen but I didn’t take much notice – the building has quite a number of tenants so I didn’t think too much about it. Later in the day everybody in the office was talking about how they had taken over the Oando offices and then I got a little panicked. Having no idea what the issue is with Oando I was worried about the outcome of a full blown altercation with armed personnel. You know in this Nigeria one has to be careful when dealing with someone with a gun.”
The presence of the armed men on the directives of the SEC have intimidated company’s employees and disrupted normal business activities in Oando.
According to sources, the disruption of normal business activity at the Oando’s office will not only impact the company but will also impact the country at large as the company has seen a downward spiral in its stock price specifically since the release of the SECs directives.
Commenting on the allegation and moves of SEC over the management of Oando Plc, a Legal Attorney, Nkechi Agbanusi said: “The SEC’s actions is what you can describe as Dictatorial Democracy, on the surface they are the regulator with the best interest of the market at heart, but in truth they are the destroyers of value, this cuts across all regulators in all facets of the country.”
Samson Oyedeyi
