Forensic auditors resume work at Oando, says Nigeria's finmin Adeosun

Nigeria’s finance minister, Kemi Adeosun has said there was no going back on the investigation into the book of energy company Oando Plc, contrary to insinuations in the local media. 

Adeosun, who was responding to speculations in the media this week, noted that the government had not ordered a halt to an investigation of the oil company after the suspension of the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week.

"The investigative work on Oando and all other ongoing investigations being undertaken by SEC in the discharge of its statutory functions have continued. Indeed, our information is that the forensic auditors have resumed at Oando," the minister said in a statement signed by her special advise on media, Oluyinka Akintunde on Friday.

According to the statement, the minister said her ministry had approved the original decision to carry out the audit at Oando.
The minister suspended SEC Director General Mounir Gwarzo last week over allegations of financial impropriety, a month after Gwarzo started an investigation into Oando’s shareholding structure and froze trading in its shares.
Lawmakers are probing the suspension, saying that they would look into whether the ministry had interfered with the SEC’s work.

"For the avoidance of doubt, there was no directive whatsoever to discontinue the investigation into Oando and this was reiterated to the current SEC leadership at the formal handover meeting," the statement quoted the minister as saying.

Adeosun noted that the fact that the investigation has continued further corroborates that this her position on the issue has not changed.