Stakeholders apprehensive over Oando’s shares decline

Stakeholders in the oil and gas industry are becoming apprehensive over the decline in Oando Plc shares, which dropped by 10 per cent on the Nigerian Stock Exchange last week.

The drop in the Oando share price was attributed to the revelations made at a South work, London Court, last week by the former Governor of Delta State, James Ibori, of allegedly owning almost one-third of Oando Plc.

The Executive Director, Energy Resource Limited, Sanni Adams, said the decline was as a result of the British prosecutor’s claims and subsequent reactions by the oil company.

Adams noted that shareholders’ fears stemmed from the fact that if indeed Ibori had substantial equity in the company, the British Government might clamp down on Oando.

Also commenting, the Managing Partner, Max-Connect Energy Digest Limited, Anthony Davies said that Oando ought to have informed or published its business transactions with James Ibori before his prosecution by the British government.

He urged Oando’s management to send their legal representative to the British court where Ibori’s trial is taking place to clear the air on the allegation.

Davies urged investors not to be hasty in selling of their shares, but to tarry a while longer to get more information on the issue before deciding whether to sell their shares or not.

However, a spokesperson for Oando Plc, Alero Balogun, attributed the decline in Oando’s share price to market forces.

She explained that Oando is a publicly traded company listed on the Nigerian and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges, and as such, cannot control the trading in its securities on the floor of the respective Exchanges.

According to the website of First Registrars Nigeria Limited, registrar to Oando Plc, the company had a total of 572,300,897 ordinary shares issued and fully paid for, of which the top 20 shareholders owned 35.73 percent amounting to 204,496,262 shares, as at 2004.

Some of the major shareholders include; Ocean and Oil Investments Limited, (24.69 percent); Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, (3.34 percent); Barau Dahiru Mangal, (0.90 percent); EDC Securities Limited, (0.88 percent);OjoraAdekunle, (0.70 percent);Billahi Nigeria Limited, (0.54 percent); Williams Street Trustee Limited, (0.51 percent).