Business

Dissenting NGX Shareholders fault resolutions at company’s 61st AGM

Published

2 years ago

September 21, 2022

NewsDirect

A class of shareholders of the NGX Group has frowned at its recently held 61st Annual General Meeting (AGM) and notified the company of its grievances through its lawyers, Messrs S. O. C. Legal represented by its Senior Partner, Oluwaseyilayo Ojo, who has commenced the pre-action protocol to set aside all resolutions at the AGM deemed illegal.

The aggrieved persons are Messrs Olayinka OIajuwon and BamideIe Ibironke, a representative of a class of shareholders of NGX Exchange Group Plc. Their concern was brought to the attention of the Chairman of the NGX Board and its Managing Director, Chief Abimbola Ogunbanjo and Mr. Oscar Onyeama respectively.

The worrying NGX shareholders have stated that the notice of the AGM issued by the company’s Company Secretary/Head of Compliance, Mojisola Adeola was ill-advised, fraudulent and fraught with illegalities and amounts to egregious abuse of privilege by the Board of Directors. They argued that the Notice is contrary to the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), Investment and Securities Act and other relevant capital market statutes and regulations. They also insisted that the notice and resolutions are contrary to the Board Charter of the company. According to the protesting NGX shareholders, the notice of the 61st AGM should not have been issued in the first place as it offends extant laws and codes of corporate governance and violates shareholder rights.

Messrs Olajuwon and Ibironke argued that the NGX Exchange Group PIc sits at the top of the capital market, and must be held to a higher standard of compliance with law and regulations. It remains a company incorporated under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is definitely not above the law and must be seen to comply with the law.

Some of the resolutions which the NGX 61st AGM sought to achieve, which are being contested by the aggrieved shareholders include, but are not limited to:

(i) To re-elect transitional non-Executive Board members of the Company to roles that have already lapsed under the terms of a Scheme of Arrangement that re-birthed the Company as a Public Limited Company (PLC).

(ii) To raise additional capital for th e Company to the tune of N35, 000,000,000 (Thirty- Five Billion Naira) through a hybrid offering of equity and debt. Specifically, equity of N20 billion and debt of N15 bullion.

( III )To effectively vest upon the Board of Directors far reaching discretional powers and to raise capital in any manner they determine, including by way of a rights issue, public offering or private placement;

(iv) To cancel existing but unissued shares of the Company and effect an amendment of the Company’s memorandum and articles to refer only to the issued shares.

The Notice further provides that attendance at the meeting shalI be by proxy onIy. The reason for this is said to be the COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Federal Government, Lagos State Government and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). Accordingly, members are told to choose proxies out of eight persons selected by the Board of Directors as the onIy eligible proxies from and through whom members must choose, attend and vote.

The dissenting NGX shareholders hold the view that by definition ‘capital’ of a company refers to the total assets of a business or total amount or value of its stock, which in turn is partly a function of a company’s asset worth. It is unthinkable how incurring a debt burden of at N15 billion for the company will translate to raising capital for the company that remains a viable, highly regarded entity in the capital market with unissued shares from which to raise capital.

They further argued that Section 340 of SEC regulations provides among others, that a public company seeking to offer securites by private placement must show evidence of dire need of fresh funds and shall satisfy the commission that the private placement remains the only viable alternative. No evidence has yet been put forward to show compliance with this provision.

According to them, “It is now public knowledge that Directors of the company recently paid themselves whopping sums of money under the guise of allowances and other pecks of the office.”

Business

Bitcoin price dips below $64,000 amid cryptocurrency slump

Published

23 hours ago

April 25, 2024

NewsDirect

The price of Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency platform, fell below $64,000 on Thursday morning, with over $209 million in crypto-bullish positions wiped off as the market slumped overnight.

According to Decrypt, data from Coingecko disclosed that Bitcoin is selling at $63,700, down by a whopping 4 per cent in a single day.

Bitcoin is not alone in its slump; the broader crypto market also slumped, with the combined market capitalisation of all cryptocurrencies dropping by 4.7 per cent overnight.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, also slumped like Bitcoin, down by 5.3 per cent over the past 24 hours, with its price hovering around $3,090.

Among the top 10 cryptocurrencies, Toncoin (TON) has seen the biggest dip, down 10.1 per cent over the past 24 hours to trade at $5.21.

The market dip saw over $209 million worth of crypto-long positions liquidated, according to CoinGlass data. Similarly, about 52 million in Bitcoin Long Positions were also liquidated.

The current dip comes as inflows into Blackrock’s spot bitcoin ETF dried up, ending a 71-day streak of consistent inflows, making it break into the top ten for the longest ETF daily inflow streaks since 2004.

Across the board, according to CoinGlass data, Bitcoin spot ETF outflows hit $120.6 million after three consecutive days of inflows.

This follows Hong Kong spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs getting officially approved yesterday, with a trading date set for April 30.

Experts believe that as much as $25 billion could be brought into the crypto market should exchange-traded funds be opened to investors in mainland China.

The much-anticipated Bitcoin Halving event occurred over the weekend. This event has always been bullish over the long term but it comes with some short-term losses.

Since Bitcoin’s high of $65,230 on the day of the halving, the leading cryptocurrency has dropped 2 per cent as it dipped below $64,000.

Business

Nigerians to pay more as Multichoice Nigeria hikes Dstv, Gotv subscription fees by 25%

Published

1 day ago

April 25, 2024

NewsDirect

Multichoice Nigeria, a prominent Pay-TV operator, has once again announced a price increase for its DStv and GOtv packages, this time by at least 25 percent.

This marks the third increment since last year, following the initial adjustment implemented on May 1, 2023.

Multichoice stated that the latest increase will take effect from Wednesday, May 1, 2024. While last year’s increment ranged between 19 percent to 20 percent depending on the bouquet, the company is now announcing a 25 percent to 26 percent increase across its packages.

The new subscription fees were communicated to customers via an email titled “Price Adjustment on DStv and GOtv Packages” on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Below is an excerpt from the email message that subscribers received.

On Wednesday, 1 May 2024 we will adjust our prices across all our packages on OStv and GOtv. We understand the impact this change may have on you – our valued customer, but the rise in the cost of business operations has led us to make this difficult decision.

It remains our mission to provide the best entertainment and viewing experience to you and are committed to continue to deliver high-quality content and unparalleled service.

“So, from Wednesday, 1 May 2024, the price adjustment will take effect as follows.”

According to the notice sent to its subscribers, customers on the DStv Premium package will see their monthly subscription fee increase to N37,000 starting from May 1, marking a 25.4 percent rise from the current N29,500.

Similarly, the price of the Compact+ bouquet has been raised to N25,000 from N19,800 per month, reflecting a 26.2 percent increment.

DStv has also announced that subscribers on its Compact bouquet will now pay N15,700, up from the current N12,500, representing a 25.6 percent increase. Meanwhile, those on the Confam package will face a 25.6% hike as their monthly subscription rises to N9,300 from N7,400.

Under the new pricing structure, viewers on the DStv Yanga bouquet will be charged N5,100 for their monthly subscription, marking a 21.43 percent increase over the current N4,200 fee.

Multichoice has announced price increases across its GOtv packages. Customers on the Supa Plus package will now pay N15,700, marking a 25.6 percent rise from the current price of N12,500. Similarly, the Supa bouquet will see its price increase to N9,600 from the current N7,600.

For the GOtv Max subscription, the new price is N7,200, up from N5,700, while the Jolli package will now cost N4,850, compared to the current price of N3,950. Multichoice has also adjusted the price of its lowest GOtv package, Jinja, which will now be N3,300 monthly instead of the current N2,700.

Although Multichoice Nigeria is yet to issue any statement regarding the factors behind the recent price review, Nigeria’s inflation increased to 33.2 percent.

Business

BPE seeks collaboration with NLC on privatisation process

Published

1 day ago

April 25, 2024

NewsDirect

By Matthew Dennis

The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), under the leadership of the Acting Director General, Mr. Ignatius Ayewoh, recently paid a courtesy visit to the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajero, to seek collaboration with the Labour Union in the ongoing reform and privatisation program of the Federal Government.

This is contained in a statement signed by Head, Public Communications, Amina Tukur Othman, and made available to NewsDirect on Tuesday.

The statement stated that Mr. Ayewoh emphasised the importance of collaboration with the labour unions to ensure the welfare of workers during and after government agency reforms. He expressed gratitude to Mr. Ajero and the Union for their past support and urged them to continue partnering with the Bureau, particularly as members of the Technical Committee (TC) of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP).

Highlighting BPE’s previous successes in various sectors of the Nigerian economy such as telecoms, banking, Eleme petrochemical, and port terminal concessions, Mr. Ayewoh stated that the Bureau’s current strategy is focused on implementing Public Private Partnership (PPP) and concessioning in its transactions.

Furthermore, Mr. Ayewoh informed Mr. Ajero that BPE is working closely with the Accountant General’s Office to ensure the payment of all outstanding severance liabilities arising from the 2013 privatisation of the power sector, in accordance with agreements made with labour unions.

In response, Mr. Ajero thanked the Ag. DG for the visit and pledged the collaboration of the NLC with the Bureau in its reform activities.

It is worth noting that, in 2023 the BPE, along with other sister agencies, conducted a verification exercise for the payment of the agreed 16-month severance benefits to former staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), including certified Next-of-Kin (NOK) of deceased ex-staff. The exercise took place in twelve designated centres over four phases across the country.