OANDO Scandal: The Letter To The Minister Of Finance That Got SEC Director-General Gwarzo Fired
The sack, last week, of Mr. Mounir Gwarzo as Director-General
(DG) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by
Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, was provoked by a letter
found offensive by the minister. While the official spiel was
that Mr. Gwarzo was relieved of his appointment because of a
wave of corruption allegations swirling around him, including
paying himself over N100million in retirement benefits to which
he was not eligible, it was the letter that made Mrs. Adeosun
pull the trigger.
CEO of OANDO - Wale Tinubu
In the letter, exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters, Mr.
Gwarzo pointedly refused the minister's instruction that the
SEC should halt its investigation of Oando Plc, former
employers of Mrs. Adeosun, for crooked book-keeping and
corruption.
Dated November 28 and titled "Investigation of Oando Plc,"
Mr. Gwarzo's letter opened with a recall of the meeting held
with Mrs. Adeosun on 27 November, where the minister verbally
directed the SEC to discontinue the forensic audit of her
former employers. Mr. Gwarzo also stated that instead of the
audit, the minister directed that a tripartite meeting with
SEC's legal officers, Oando Plc and the Federal Ministry of
Finance to determine the penalties to be issued to officials
of Oando Plc in their personal capacity.
The sacked SEC DG, however, warned the minister that her
proposal with putting a question mark on the independence and
integrity of SEC as well as erode the confidence of local and
international investors in the country's capital market. He also
warned the minister that the investigation is being monitored by
the investment community, locally and globally.
"Furthermore, as you may be aware, the activities around the
investigation of Oando Plc are being monitored by the local
and global investment community and they eagerly expect the
outcome of the exercise. It is, therefore, not in the best
interest of our recovering economy that the forensic audit is
not seen to be conducted in an independent and transparent
manner as proposed by the commission," Mr. Gwarzo wrote.
Beleaguered CEO of OANDO, Wale Tinubu
He pointed the minister's attention to the fact that over the
last three years, the SEC has embarked on enforcement actions
against big players in the capital market, a step he claimed
has largely sanitised the process and resulted in an 8 per
cent reduction in the occurrence of infractions within the
period.
A major infraction Oando was alleged to have committed, said
Mr. Gwarzo, is financial mismanagement, which consequences are
being borne by 274,000 shareholders of the company.
As such, Mr. Gwarzo wrote: "It is only proper that a process,
which would reveal the status of the allegation to ascertain
its veracity or otherwise be embarked upon in a transparent
manner. This, in my opinion, will put to rest the question of
how the shareholder funds have been managed by the persons
appointed to do so for the shareholders. The commission,
therefore, as the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital
market, has the responsibility to ensure that a thorough,
independent and transparent process is put in place to unravel
the true financial status of the company," wrote the sacked
DG.
He warned that a discontinuation of the audit will bring
unsavoury consequences such as ridicule for the regulators and
an image of inefficiency and lack of integrity. In addition,
Mr. Gwarzo said it will erode confidence in the market, send
wrong signals to local and international market players,
discourage foreign investors and portray the absence of
independence of regulators.
Mr. Gwarzo also told Mrs. Adeosun that he was offering his
advice against a discontinuation of the audit based on Section
13 (cc) of the Investment and Securities Act, which mandates
the commission to advise the minister on matters relating to
the securities industry. He added that he would prefer a
written directive, rather than a verbal one from the minister,
stating that his preference is not in any way an attempt to
disrespect her office, but to ensure proper doucmentation.
Sources told SaharaReporters that the forensic audit was
provoked by an $800million investment in Oando by Mr. Gabriel
Volpi, a businessman of Italian origin, to help Oando buy
ConocoPhillips. Mr. Dahiru Manga, a businessman and close
friend of former President Umaru Yar'Adua also invested
$120million when friction developed between Mr. Wale Tinubu,
Managing Director of Oando, and Mr. Volpi, who later gave
another $200million. Mr. Volpi, said sources, was allocated 59%
of Oando shares, while Mr. Manga got 11%. Ocean and Oil, a
company owned by Mr. Tinubu, at that point, owned only1
percent of Oando. However, Mr. Tinubu was was allowed to
keep running the company.
But when a forensic audit was done, it revealed that Oando
had suffered a N330billion, papered over by Mr. Tinubu's
cooking of the books. Auditors discovered that Mr. Tinubu had
syphoned $400million and transferred to tax havens. He was
also accused of living largely by way operating three private
jets, two of which had been deployed to President Buhari's use
during the Presidential election campaigns in 2015.
With things looking ugly, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Gbadebo,
who is Oando Chairman, said sources, had to intervene. He and
Ogun State governor, Mr. Ibikunle Amosun contacted Mrs.
Adeosun, who owes her current position to the governor, to get
SEC to halt the audit and impose fines.
This was why Mrs. Adeosun invited Mr. Gwarzo to her office
on 27 November and asked him to get SEC off the case,
claiming that President Muhammadu Buhari wants Mr. Tinubu
freed from the probe. The Oando Managing Director was said to
have promised the Finance Minister a whopping $20million
reward if she got the job done.
Mr. Gwarzo's letter, aside from costing him his job, also
immediately made him a subject of interest by the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent
Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC). Mr,
Gwarzo has a litany of misdeeds and corruption baggage of his
own that SaharaReporters had recently revealed.
Currently, federal legislators, whom sources said Mr. Gwarzo,
has given huge bribes are pushing for his reinstatement. He is
also said to be working hard on a section of the media to
ensure that his narrative drowns that of the minister, so he
could get his job back.
Mounir Gwarzo - Fired SEC DG
(DG) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by
Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, was provoked by a letter
found offensive by the minister. While the official spiel was
that Mr. Gwarzo was relieved of his appointment because of a
wave of corruption allegations swirling around him, including
paying himself over N100million in retirement benefits to which
he was not eligible, it was the letter that made Mrs. Adeosun
pull the trigger.
In the letter, exclusively obtained by SaharaReporters, Mr.
Gwarzo pointedly refused the minister's instruction that the
SEC should halt its investigation of Oando Plc, former
employers of Mrs. Adeosun, for crooked book-keeping and
corruption.
Dated November 28 and titled "Investigation of Oando Plc,"
Mr. Gwarzo's letter opened with a recall of the meeting held
with Mrs. Adeosun on 27 November, where the minister verbally
directed the SEC to discontinue the forensic audit of her
former employers. Mr. Gwarzo also stated that instead of the
audit, the minister directed that a tripartite meeting with
SEC's legal officers, Oando Plc and the Federal Ministry of
Finance to determine the penalties to be issued to officials
of Oando Plc in their personal capacity.
The sacked SEC DG, however, warned the minister that her
proposal with putting a question mark on the independence and
integrity of SEC as well as erode the confidence of local and
international investors in the country's capital market. He also
warned the minister that the investigation is being monitored by
the investment community, locally and globally.
"Furthermore, as you may be aware, the activities around the
investigation of Oando Plc are being monitored by the local
and global investment community and they eagerly expect the
outcome of the exercise. It is, therefore, not in the best
interest of our recovering economy that the forensic audit is
not seen to be conducted in an independent and transparent
manner as proposed by the commission," Mr. Gwarzo wrote.
Beleaguered CEO of OANDO, Wale Tinubu
He pointed the minister's attention to the fact that over the
last three years, the SEC has embarked on enforcement actions
against big players in the capital market, a step he claimed
has largely sanitised the process and resulted in an 8 per
cent reduction in the occurrence of infractions within the
period.
A major infraction Oando was alleged to have committed, said
Mr. Gwarzo, is financial mismanagement, which consequences are
being borne by 274,000 shareholders of the company.
As such, Mr. Gwarzo wrote: "It is only proper that a process,
which would reveal the status of the allegation to ascertain
its veracity or otherwise be embarked upon in a transparent
manner. This, in my opinion, will put to rest the question of
how the shareholder funds have been managed by the persons
appointed to do so for the shareholders. The commission,
therefore, as the apex regulator of the Nigerian capital
market, has the responsibility to ensure that a thorough,
independent and transparent process is put in place to unravel
the true financial status of the company," wrote the sacked
DG.
He warned that a discontinuation of the audit will bring
unsavoury consequences such as ridicule for the regulators and
an image of inefficiency and lack of integrity. In addition,
Mr. Gwarzo said it will erode confidence in the market, send
wrong signals to local and international market players,
discourage foreign investors and portray the absence of
independence of regulators.
Mr. Gwarzo also told Mrs. Adeosun that he was offering his
advice against a discontinuation of the audit based on Section
13 (cc) of the Investment and Securities Act, which mandates
the commission to advise the minister on matters relating to
the securities industry. He added that he would prefer a
written directive, rather than a verbal one from the minister,
stating that his preference is not in any way an attempt to
disrespect her office, but to ensure proper doucmentation.
Sources told SaharaReporters that the forensic audit was
provoked by an $800million investment in Oando by Mr. Gabriel
Volpi, a businessman of Italian origin, to help Oando buy
ConocoPhillips. Mr. Dahiru Manga, a businessman and close
friend of former President Umaru Yar'Adua also invested
$120million when friction developed between Mr. Wale Tinubu,
Managing Director of Oando, and Mr. Volpi, who later gave
another $200million. Mr. Volpi, said sources, was allocated 59%
of Oando shares, while Mr. Manga got 11%. Ocean and Oil, a
company owned by Mr. Tinubu, at that point, owned only1
percent of Oando. However, Mr. Tinubu was was allowed to
keep running the company.
But when a forensic audit was done, it revealed that Oando
had suffered a N330billion, papered over by Mr. Tinubu's
cooking of the books. Auditors discovered that Mr. Tinubu had
syphoned $400million and transferred to tax havens. He was
also accused of living largely by way operating three private
jets, two of which had been deployed to President Buhari's use
during the Presidential election campaigns in 2015.
With things looking ugly, the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Gbadebo,
who is Oando Chairman, said sources, had to intervene. He and
Ogun State governor, Mr. Ibikunle Amosun contacted Mrs.
Adeosun, who owes her current position to the governor, to get
SEC to halt the audit and impose fines.
This was why Mrs. Adeosun invited Mr. Gwarzo to her office
on 27 November and asked him to get SEC off the case,
claiming that President Muhammadu Buhari wants Mr. Tinubu
freed from the probe. The Oando Managing Director was said to
have promised the Finance Minister a whopping $20million
reward if she got the job done.
Mr. Gwarzo's letter, aside from costing him his job, also
immediately made him a subject of interest by the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent
Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC). Mr,
Gwarzo has a litany of misdeeds and corruption baggage of his
own that SaharaReporters had recently revealed.
Currently, federal legislators, whom sources said Mr. Gwarzo,
has given huge bribes are pushing for his reinstatement. He is
also said to be working hard on a section of the media to
ensure that his narrative drowns that of the minister, so he
could get his job back.
Mounir Gwarzo letters to Adesosun
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