Oando Plc has clarified that it is not affected by the July 6, 2018 verdict of the London Court of International Arbitration awarding $680m in favour of Ansbury Investments Inc., owned by an Italian-Nigerian businessman, Gabriele Volpi.

Oando, in a statement on Monday, explained that the dispute that culminated in the $680m award was between its Group Chief Executive, Wale Tinubu, and Deputy Group Chief Executive, Omamofe Boyo, on the one hand, and Volpi’s Ansbury Investments Inc. on the other hand.

Oando urged the public to disregard the misrepresentation in the media that the LCIA awarded $680m against it in favour of Ansbury Investment Inc.

It also stressed that Volpi was not a shareholder of Oando Plc.

The company said, “The LCIA ruling follows months of arbitration on a loan repayment dispute between Oando Plc’s Group Chief Executiv,e Adewale Tinubu; the Deputy Group Chief Executive, Omamofe Boyo, beneficial owners of Whitmore Asset Management Limited, and Gabriel Volpi, the beneficial owner of Ansbury Inc.”

It stated, “The dispute dates back to 2017 when Gabriel Volpi allegedly attempted to breach a loan repayment agreement between him and Whitmore Limited in the British Virgin Island. Ansbury and Whitmore Limited incorporated a joint venture investment vehicle in the British Virgin Islands called, Ocean and Oil Development Partners.

“OODP BVI owns a 99.99 per cent stake in Ocean and Oil Development Partners (OODP Nigeria), who in turn owns 57.37 per cent stake in Oando Plc. Contrary to media speculations, the LCIA had, in fact, ruled that OODP BVI, which Gabriel Volpi owns a 60 per cent stake in, should pay Ansbury (his own company) a total sum of $600m, while Whitmore is to pay Ansbury $80m.

“Going by the ownership structure, this implies that Gabriel Volpi would, in fact, be paying himself $360m. Payment terms have yet to be released by the LCIA and is expected to be made known to the parities in the due course.”

The LCIA had in a July 6, 2018 verdict awarded a total of $680m (about N216bn) against two firms – Ocean and Oil Development Partners Limited and Whitmore Asset Management Limited – said to belong to Tinubu and Boyo.

(PUNCHNG)