SEC Insists on Suspension of Oando Annual General Meeting

Despite a recent court ruling, the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, has maintained that the suspension of the Annual General Meeting of Oando Plc in 2017 still stands.

According to a statement released on Friday by the SEC, the commission said their stance on the suspension is based on conflicting courts ruling in cases challenging its directives.

“In view of the conflicting judgments of the High Courts of coordinate jurisdiction, the Commission hereby advises the public that in line with the law (please see Vaswani Trading Co. v. Savalakh & Co. (1972) NSCC 692 and Ojukwu v. Military Governor of Lagos State (1986) 1 NWLR (Pt 18) 621) and the pending appeals/applications for stay of the various judgments, parties, and relevant stakeholders are enjoined to maintain status quo, which includes the suspension of the Annual General Meeting, pending the determination of the cases and the appeals.

“The Commission will update relevant stakeholders and the public on the outcome of the ongoing litigations,” the statement released by the commission partly reads.

The SEC, in the statement, went ahead to give brief details of conflicting court cases, as well as the implications of the judgments.

Here are some of the cases cited by SEC

— One judgment of the Federal High Court, Lagos (as mentioned above) has held that the Federal High Court Nigeria lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the dispute as the jurisdiction lies with the Investments & Securities Tribunal.

— Three judgments of the Federal High Court, Abuja (as mentioned above) have held that the Federal High Court Nigeria lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the dispute as the jurisdiction lies with the Investments& Securities Tribunal.

— One judgment of the Federal Capital Territory, High Court Bwari Abuja (as mentioned above) has held that the Federal Capital Territory High Court Abuja has the jurisdiction to entertain the matter and granted the reliefs sought by the Applicants.

— One judgment of the Federal High Court, Kano (as mentioned above) has held that the Federal High Court Nigeria has the jurisdiction to entertain the dispute and granted the reliefs against the Commission.