In President Bola Tinubu’s first year in office, Oando Plc—led by his nephew Wale Tinubu—has seen its market value skyrocket from N74 billion in 2023 to N1 trillion by September 2024.
This remarkable increase, representing a growth of over 1,000 per cent, is achieved amidst Nigeria’s severe cost-of-living and fuel crises, which have contributed to the departure of multinational corporations such as GlaxoSmithKline, Microsoft, and Diageo, among others.
Surprisingly, under Tinubu’s nephew, Oando has advanced from an average-performing oil company that recorded a loss after tax to a flourishing company with a staggering valuation.
Over a year since Tinubu’s presidency began, Oando’s share price soared from six naira on September 1, 2023, to a peak of N92, propelling the company into the top 10 most valuable firms on the Nigerian stock exchange.
In the financial year ending 2023, Oando reported a profit after tax of N74 billion, a significant turnaround from the previous year’s loss.
It will be recalled that last week, Oando announced the take-over of Eni-Agip shares in a transaction valued at approximately $785 million. A report by Peoples Gazette revealed that the transfer of Eni’s Nigerian assets to Oando was in exchange for Eni’s return to Nigeria’s lucrative OPL 245 oil field in partnership with Shell.
Wale Tinubu and Oando have consistently rejected allegations of impropriety, maintaining that their recent successes were driven by efforts that predate Tinubu’s presidency.
The recent rise of Oando’s valuation has raised public concerns, with some attributing the company’s success to the CEO’s familial connection to the president rather than to its operational performance. This is because the economic instability in the country and the consequences of the Bola Tinubu administration have negatively impacted many billionaire businesses, including Aliko Dangote’s.
Since coming into office, Tinubu has shown nepotism in some of his economic decisions. Earlier this year, he awarded a N15 trillion contract for constructing the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway to Hi-tech, a company managed by his son Seyi and his associate Gilbert Chagoury.
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