Oando denies hiding James Ibori assets, says ex-gov shares insignificant

   
Oando PLC, one of Nigeria’s leading indigenous energy group has refuted the allegation that it helped the jailed former governor of Delta State, James Ibori to hid some of his stolen assets in the oil company.
In a statement, the energy company said ibori "does not own ‘a large part of Oando’ and that this statement

An Oando filling station

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," the company said in a statement.
Oando also stated that sometime in 2004, in the normal course of its business, its affiliate Ocean and Oil Services Limited sold approximately US$2.7 million in three separate transactions over a period of about seven months to companies which have now turned out to be indirectly controlled by Ibori.
"This amount was insignificant considering the company’s turnover of approximately US$800million in 2004," the energy company said, noting that the transaction constitutes the only transactions between Oando, its affiliates 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.
A British prosecutor told a court on Monday that the Jailed former Nigerian oil state governor Ibori hid some of his assets in the oil firm Oando.
Ibori, who governed Delta State from 1999 to 2007 and influenced national politics, was jailed for 13 years in Britain after pleading guilty in February 2012 to 10 counts of fraud and money-laundering worth 50 million pounds ($79 million).
 One of the biggest embezzlement cases seen in Britain, the successful prosecution of Ibori was also a rare example of a senior Nigerian politician being held to account for the corruption that blights Africa's most populous country.
   A three-week confiscation hearing began at London's Southwark Crown Court on Monday during which prosecutors will present evidence of Ibori's assets and seek court orders to have them seized. Defence lawyers will dispute the prosecution case.