‘Ibori does not own 30% of Oando’ on September 20, 2013 at 12:40 am in News By CLARA NWACHUKWU Oando Plc said yesterday that claims by former Delta State governor, Mr. James Ibori, of owning 30 percent equity in the company is mere “image laundering” by the former governor. Oando’s Deputy Group Chief Executive, Mr. Mofe Boyo, told newsmen at the group’s headquarters that “Ibori merely made the claim of owning 30 percent shares in Oando because it suited the image he wanted to project at that time.” Chief James Ibori James Ibori Not only this, he said that Ibori also lied when he claimed that some members of his family also owned substantial interest in Ocean and Oil, a subsidiary of the Group. An embattled Boyo struggled in vain to answer the deluge of questions as to how Ibori, then a serving executive governor of one of Nigeria’s richest states would tell such a big lie to boost his image. He said: “Yes, Ibori lied when he claimed he owned 30 percent of Oando and substantial interest in Ocean and Oil. He owns less than 500 shares in Oando, and this cannot translate to 30 percent of Oando and we do not know why he would make such a claim. “We have over 300,000 shareholders in Oando and we have no control over who buys our shares and what quantity they buy. As a publicly traded company, our shares are sold uninhibited and without prejudice to anyone. “Having said that there is no link or connection between Ibori and Oando, or between Ibori and Ocean and Oil.” No matter how strongly Oando disputes Ibori’s claim, it could not stop the company’s shares from losing some value on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, as it traded for N10 per share as at the close of trading, yesterday, the lowest among its peers, a move that may have prompted hasty twin press conferences held in Ikeja and Victoria Island respectively.” Boyo, who also denied being the arrow head in the Ibori/Oando deal, while noting that the company has not been indicted for any crime, said that it tried to avert this current scandal last year. According to him, “sometime in 2012, we approached the Metropolitan Police over the issue in relation to foreign exchange transfers from Ocean and Oil, and Oando. In fact, I was the one who met with them in the company of one of our lawyers and we showed them the documentation of all our transactions. “But they didn’t do anything with those information, and they insisted that whatever forex transfers Oando and Ocean and Oil made were connected with Ibori, instead of making a distinction between the parties.” He also revealed that Oando tried to file a suit to be included in the Ibori case to forestall any damage to its image but was not allowed to, as according to him, “The judge refused, saying that we were not a party in the case.” He added that the company also tried to sit in during the court proceedings following a visit of the British Police to Nigeria to ascertain Ibori’s shareholding in Oando, but was also refused, until last Monday when the judge agreed Oando representatives could be admitted into the court proceedings. As a result, Boyo declared that attempts to link Oando and Ibori are all just “sensationalism”, adding that in spite of these, there are no threats to any of Oando’s or Ocean and Oil’s assets whatsoever. Trouble started brewing for Oando when the International media published a story, insinuating that a substantial amount of Ibori’s wealth were invested in Oando, which made the company to state as follows: “We state categorically that Mr. James Ibori does not own ‘a large part of Oando’ and that this statement is incorrect and misleading. Oando is a publicly traded company listed on the Nigerian and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges and does not and cannot control the trading in its securities on the floor of the respective exchanges. Based on our current shareholding register, Mr. James Ibori’s shareholding stands at 443 shares out of a total issued and paid up share capital of 6.8 billion ordinary shares, which is clearly insignificant, and cannot be considered as ‘a large part of Oando’.” Continuing, Oando also stated that it does accept that sometime in 2004, in the normal course of its business, it sold some of its foreign exchange earnings for Naira and the recipient of the US Dollars was a company which has now turned out to be one controlled by James Ibori. At the time of the transaction, this information was unknown to Oando. “The total amount was US$2.7 million made in 3 separate transactions over a period of about 7 months. This amount was insignificant considering the company’s turnover of approximately US$800million in 2004. “The above constitutes the only transactions between Oando and any company controlled by Mr. Ibori. Consequently, Oando cannot be described as a company where James Ibori has hidden assets as a result of these foreign exchange transactions. Commenting on the statements made in court, Andrew Baillie QC, counsel representing Oando also stated outside the courtroom: “It is unfortunate that our client has been dragged into these proceedings. There is no suggestion from the prosecution of any wrongdoing or involvement in wrongdoing on the part of Oando”. No Ibori shares in our firm — NOTORE Notore Chemical Industries Limited, yesterday, stated that the former governor of Delta State, Mr James Ibori, has never owned or controlled shares in the company. A statement by the fertilizer company stressed that it had worked extremely hard to become a major player in the global fertilizer market, relying on strict ethical principles. According to Notore, “the ongoing confiscation proceedings are solely between the United Kingdom, UK, court and Mr. James Ibori.” The fertilizer giant based in Onne, River State added that “Notore is not a party to the UK court proceedings because English law does not allow Notore to defend itself in them.” The firm stressed that Mr James Ibori does not have ‘hidden assets’ in Notore. He has never owned nor controlled shares in the company, and, so far as the company is aware, no other shareholder or shareholders hold shares for him in trust. “Notore remains proud of the central role it is playing in the revolution of African agriculture and Africa’s economic empowerment and is committed to the Federal Government’s agricultural transformation agenda and to the objective of making the country self-reliant in food production.”
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 04:50:15 +0000
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