Oando Boss, Adewale Tinubu: The General Hoists Another Flag of Victory

His ability as a strategist has never been in doubt. He is also acknowledged to have a unique winning streak, which beggars description.

In the past years, the stories of Adewale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc, which are defined by happy endings, have continued to confound many. Indeed, many, including his worst critics, cannot feign ignorance of the abundance of God’s grace in his life. This is because the ‘oil marshal’ a few days ago recorded another victory in the volatile business battlefield.

This adulation of Tinubu has been trending for some days now on social media, particularly as many remember his face-off with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). At the height of the SEC onslaught against him and Oando, Tinubu had sought justice in the court of law.

Interestingly, about two years after, the much-sought justice has now been served and his prayers granted, to the delight of his fans.

On July 5, Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos granted leave to him and Oando Plc to file a motion for a judicial review of the decision of the SEC. The court also granted an order of certiorari for the quashing of SEC’s directive to Oando to convene an extraordinary general meeting on or before July 1 to appoint new directors and articulate remedial measures for alleged corporate governance lapses.
The court further granted an order of certiorari for the quashing of a press release by SEC on June 1 appointing an interim management team to be headed by one Mutiu Sunmonu (the third respondent) to oversee Oando’s affairs.

The victory did not come as a surprise to many; rather, it is just another record broken by the oil guru. Industry watchers, who spoke under anonymity with Society Watch, affirmed that the deal by Oando Plc and the SEC to end the legal battle was taken in the best interests of the company’s shareholders and the capital market. The deal, it was gathered, included the payment of a sum of money and a commitment by the company to implement improvements in corporate governance.

Tinubu, no doubt, comes across as a phenomenon. His audacity of hope and self-assurance first manifested when he resigned from his father’s law firm at the young age of 27 to pursue his own pristine vision. He had taken that audacious decision at a time when it was the status symbol to work in one’s father’s firm. The mustard seed that he, alongside his friends, deepened into the soil back then has germinated into an Iroko that not only gives shade to millions of people but also feeds a million others spread across the world.