Ajogwu exits Seplat's Board, decries external influence

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*Prof. Fabian Ajogwu, SAN


(Nigeria) Apparently worried by efforts by some forces outside Seplat Energy Plc to derail the company's steady progress, a non-executive director of the company, Prof. Fabian Ajogwu, has resigned from the Board of the leading indigenous oil and gas firm.

Ajogwu, a Professor of Corporate Governance and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, cited unwholesome conduct by some people external to Seplat, but nonetheless resolved to negatively distract the Board of Seplat thereby militating against the smooth operations of the company.

His arrival on the board in July 2021 saw him bring the benefit of corporate governance experience from his works and teachings, including the benefit of having drafted Nigeria’s pioneer code of corporate governance, chaired NCC telecoms Code and assisted with the National Code of Corporate Governance as a member. It is understood that he will remain a Board member until October 2023.

Reacting to this development, some oil and gas industry watchers are of the view that the exit of Nigeria's first Professor of Corporate Governance is a negative for the company, and for Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, which relies so heavily on expatriate workers and foreign investment.

To some industry watchers, the framing of the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Roger Brown, as a ‘racist’ without any due process of court or fair hearing, and “the unwarranted charge was filed against Seplat and its Directors by the Nigeria Immigration Service on April 6, 2023, and withdrawn hours later on the same date by a notice of discontinuance of the same dated April 6, 2023 was an ugly development.

According to them, “efforts by these same forces to mislead agencies of the federal government and the courts, to frustrate the lawful business of Seplat, destroy shareholders’ investments and harass and intimidate independent non-executive directors on baseless allegations were a great set back.

On April 20, 2023, reports officially came out that the Nigerian government, through its Immigration Service, discontinued the case filed against the company and its directors.

It is gathered that a “notice of withdrawal/discontinuance of the action” dated and filed in part on 6th April 2023, was issued by the Director Legal Services of the Nigeria Immigration Service and stated in part that “the claimant hereby discontinues all the proceedings in this charge against the above-named defendants,” Seplat Energy said.

Analysts expect the civil suits pending against the company to also end sooner than later without any doubt. The unnecessary battle waged against Seplat and its board could derail its enormous gains over the past with a stellar operational and financial performance in the last financial year. The attacks against Seplat and its Board have been designed to intimidate them for doing the right thing and upholding corporate governance. Since the attacks on independent non-executive directors, the company’s shares have sharply declined.

Analysts believe that over one-sixth of the market cap of this dual-listed entity has been wiped off over the past month of these concerted attacks.

The share price dropped from GBP1.25 to GBP0.98.

For Nigeria’s first Professor of Corporate Governance, his resignation would appear to signify that there should be no adulteration of goods with any sprinkling of ethical compromises. It is hoped that the forces behind these attacks would realise that the company has multiple stakeholders, including shareholders, creditors, employees, communities, etc, that would also suffer the consequences of their actions.

Nigeria’s reputation will suffer too. The latest analysis by the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) finds that foreign investors inflow into Nigeria’s stock market dropped dramatically to N53.71billion in the first quarter of (Q1) 2023 from N128.91 billion reported in Q1 2022. The report, entitled “Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Participation in Equity Trading,” pointed to political tension, high inflationary pressure and scarcity of foreign exchange as reasons for the fall in investment in Nigerian companies’ shares. We should not be adding weaponization of the courts and baseless claims of racism to the reasons that foreign investors stay away from Nigeria.

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