Business
Oando Saga: Shareholders Query SEC Over AGM Suspension
The Minority Shareholders of Oando Plc on Wednesday decried the cancellation of the company’s 2018 Annual General Meeting (AGM) by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the eve of the programme.
The Secretary-General, Association for Investors Liberation, Mr Hamza Ridhwa, spoke on behalf of the shareholders at a news conference in Lagos.
The Tide recalls that the commission had on June 10 suspended till further notice, Oando’s AGM scheduled to hold on June 11.
The suspension followed an order by a Federal High Court in Lagos due to an application made by the Group Chief Executive Officer of Oando Plc, Mr Adewale Tinubu and his deputy, who were suspended by SEC on May 31.
Ridhwa said that the way and manner the meeting was cancelled was disappointing and disheartening.
“We condemn in absolute terms the way and manner chosen by SEC in announcing the cancellation on the eve of the event, despite having ample time to do the same.
“We have shareholders who have come in from all over the country; it is disappointing and disheartening to think that SEC did not think it worthy to consider us,” he said.
Ridhwa said that SEC should explain to the shareholders, how the last minute suspension of the AGM was in their own interest.
“SEC is a regulator that is here to protect the market, and in particular, we the minority shareholders.
“They have a duty to care for us first. Their actions in the Oando case has neither protected us, nor shown a duty of care,” he said.
Ridhwa said that shareholders were disappointed at SEC current management of the investigation into Oando Plc.
“The actions, over the last two years and specifically the last 10 days, has shown that our voices as minority shareholders are not being listened to,” he said.
Ridhwa said that the development had caused an erosion of value in the company’s shares since SEC’s May 31 Press statement from N4.20 on May 31 to N3.75 per share on June 11.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
