News
Why SEPLAT Sacked Avuru as Non-Executive Director
The investing public may not have heard details of the main reasons why Austin Avuru, a former chief executive officer of Seplat Energy Plc who later became a Non-Executive Director was sacked from the board of the energy company.
Austin Avuru
Seplat Energy Plc had on Thursday, December 23 notified the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) that its board has terminated the contract of appointment of Austin Avuru as a Non-Executive Director.
Seplat Energy told the NGX that Avuru’s appointment was terminated on December 22, 2021, “due to breaches of the Company’s corporate governance policies and his fiduciary duties.”
Shortly after SEPLAT hammer fell on Avuru, Perchstone & Graeys, the law firm representing the sacked Non-Executive Director said the allegations levelled against him (Avuru) by Seplat Energy Plc were aimed at “damaging his hard-earned reputation” based on “fictitious allegations” even though the same statement accepted that their client (Austin Avuru) had taken “an ill-advised action”.
The law firm had said this in a statement issued last week and signed by Osaro Eghobamien and Folabi Kuti, its lawyers.
However, the emerging facts seem to bear serious consequences.
Under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 (CAMA), directors have a duty to exercise their powers and discharge their duties honestly, in good faith and in the best interests of the company. They are also expected to exercise that degree of care, diligence and skill which a reasonably prudent director would exercise in comparable circumstances.
It was learnt that following an enquiry by the Board of Directors of SEPLAT, Avuru had allegedly on December 1, 2020, admitted his conflict of interest in connection with SEPLAT’s business and more particularly its proposed acquisition of some Nigerian assets in which ExxonMobil Corporation has interests.
Avuru also admitted that he had on that date been appointed the Chairman of Chappal Petroleum Development Company Limited (Chappal) and that Chappal had been invited by ExxonMobil Corporation for discussions and possible access to their database in respect of the assets.
Further enquiries by SEPLAT Board revealed that Avuru had already acquired an interest in Chappal over nine months earlier, as far back as March 2020, whilst he was still CEO of Seplat Energy.
More revealing was that the incorporation documents of Chappal as shown at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) revealed that Avuru was and remained both a founding shareholder and director of Chappal, but he failed to disclose his interests in Chappal to the Board in December 2020.
It was further learnt that prior to December 1, 2020, Avuru was much aware, but failed to disclose that Chappal had put in a bid for the said oil and gas assets.
SEPLAT Board after completing the process of its review was satisfied that Avuru failed or refused to disclose a conflict of interest as soon as he acquired an interest in and was appointed a director of Chappal and became aware that Chappal was bidding for the assets.
Avuru knew that SEPLAT which he was a Non-Executive Director was also interested in the assets and he had participated in SEPLAT’s Board discussions relating to SEPLAT’S bid for the assets.
These findings seemed to have affirmed for Board of SEPLAT that Avuru by his actions clearly breached his fiduciary duties and obligations as a director as stipulated under the existing Nigerian Code of Corporate Governance (NCCG) as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Code of Corporate Governance to which Avuru’s appointment was subject.
Avuru as then Non-Executive Director had a duty to notify SEPLAT of his appointment onto the board of Chappal, bearing in mind that he was the CEO of SEPLAT at the time and both companies operate within the same industry.
SEPLAT Energy has a standard listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), therefore the company is publicly committed to comply voluntarily with and to abide by the United Kingdom’s Code of Corporate Governance (UK Code).
In accordance with the UK Code provisions, Board directors are not only expected to act in a manner consistent with their duties under company law, but also to uphold the highest standards of integrity.
Prior to appointment into the Board, directors are expected to disclose their significant commitments to the board (together with an indication of the time involved) and additional external appointments are not to be undertaken by directors without prior approval of the board.
By not notifying the SEPLAT board of his appointment to the board of Chappal in March 2020, at a time when Avuru was the CEO of SEPLAT, and not seeking prior approval from the SEPLAT board to take on this new appointment, Avuru acted in a manner that was inconsistent with the provisions of the UK Code and the guidance.
It was further learnt that Avuru also failed to disclose his appointment as a director of Chappal when he accepted the role of a Non-Executive Director (NED) of SEPLAT.
No doubt, prompt and timely disclosure of this board appointment was particularly key in allowing SEPLAT Board to assess the risk of any conflict of interest arising and to take appropriate measures to manage a potential conflict.
Considering the statutory requirement from directors, Avuru had a duty to exercise good faith and a reasonable degree of care and prudence in how Avuru handled the potential conflict.
He failed to exercise his duty of care to SEPLAT by being forthright in disclosing the conflict or likelihood of conflict of interest to SEPLAT, before or promoting/ incorporating Chappal in March 2020.
By failing to promptly disclose his directorship in Chappal, Avuru placed himself in a position where his duties as a director of SEPLAT conflicted with the concurrent opportunities he pursued as founding shareholder and director of Chappal and SEPLAT in a position where it was temporarily unable to take prompt action to manage the potential conflict of interest and to comply with the provisions of CAMA as well as the principles of the NCCG, SEC and UK codes.
For almost one year, Avuru’s attention was said to have been fully with Chappal as against SEPLAT, a situation that was most unfair to SEPLAT, its shareholders and other stakeholders.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) does not currently maintain a public privacy policy on www.efcc.gov.ng, its official website.
Ola Olukoyede, EFCC chairman, EFCC
This is despite partnering with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) to ensure data compliance according to findings by Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ)
As a law enforcement agency, the EFCC handles highly sensitive personal data and financial records, but its main web portal does not currently provide a formal, publicly available privacy policy detailing how user data is collected, stored, or processed.
According to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), all government websites are mandated to have privacy policies.
Section 10.4 (i, ii) of the NITDA Privacy Policy mandates all government websites to exercise diligence when collecting personal details or information about visitors to their websites.
It equally requires all government websites to incorporate prominently displayed privacy statements clearly stating the purpose for which information is being collected where the government institution seeks to or collects personal information from visitors through its website.
In addition, the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023 requires every data controller to make a privacy notice available to citizens before or at the point of collecting their personal data.
That notice must state the specific lawful basis of processing, the purposes of the processing, the categories of recipients of the personal data, the existence of data subject rights, and the right to lodge a complaint with the Commission.
The law further states that such information must be contained in a privacy policy and expressed in a clear, concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible format, taking into consideration the class of data subjects targeted by the data processing.
However, on Monday, FIJ checked the anti-graft agency’s website and found that it had no privacy policy or privacy notice informing users how their personal data is collected, processed, stored or shared.
FIJ found that Nigerians can submit petitions to the EFCC on the website.
During this process, the website compulsorily collects personal data such as names, National Identification Numbers (NIN), email addresses, local government areas (LGAs), phone numbers and residential addresses.
Also, organizations and financial institutions (such as commercial banks) are legally mandated to share customer information and suspicious transactions with the EFCC to prevent financial crimes.
However, the website collects this information without specifically informing users what happens to the data they provide.
Ironically, in September 2024, the EFCC and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) agreed to forge a partnership and collaboration towards strengthening cyber data protection in the country.
The agreement was reached in Abuja on September 18, 2024, when Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner and chief executive officer of the NDPC, led a delegation of management staff on a courtesy visit to Ola Olukoyede, EFCC chairman, at the commission’s corporate headquarters.
Despite partnering with Nigeria’s data protection regulator, the EFCC still has no privacy policy on its website.
At press time, the EFCC met none of the privacy policy requirements stipulated by both NITDA guidelines and the NDPA 2023.
Moniepoint is proud to announce that the second cohort of its flagship DreamDevs Bootcamp is set to culminate in a Demo Day celebration on May 26, 2026, at its Ikeja facility. The event, themed “Training Done! Demo Up!”, will showcase the capstone projects built by participants following nine weeks of intensive, industry-grade software engineering training.
The DreamDevs Bootcamp is Moniepoint’s commitment to identifying and developing the brightest engineering talent across Africa. The nine-week intensive programme is designed to immerse participants in real-world, practical software engineering through a curriculum spanning Java OOP Foundations, Data Structures & Algorithms, Testing, MySQL & JDBC, Spring Boot APIs & System Design, Docker & Messaging Queues, Frontend UI & Cloud Infrastructure, and core Practical Software Engineering Concepts. In recognition of their commitment and effort, cohort participants are paid monthly throughout the duration of the programme.
The curriculum was developed by the Engineering Unit at Moniepoint and delivered in partnership with Semicolon, a leading technology education institution. Admission to the DreamDevs Bootcamp is highly competitive, with only top performers advancing through multiple stages of assessment, including a HackerRank technical test and an in-person code challenge, before earning a place in the programme.
Felix Ike, Co-Founder and CTO of Moniepoint, reflected on what the programme means to the company and the country, “Engineering excellence is a curated and intentionally built process that requires the right systems, resources, and time. The DreamDevs Bootcamp is our way of taking that responsibility seriously.
“We designed a programme that does not just teach syntax or frameworks, but develops engineers who can think, solve, and build at the highest level. Seeing graduates from our first cohort already thriving within our engineering team tells us we are on the right track, and we are excited to see what this second group brings to Demo Day.”
Some of the first cohort’s successful graduates are now active members of the Moniepoint engineering team, a testament to the programme’s effectiveness and its role as a genuine pipeline for world-class engineering talent.
The DreamDevs Bootcamp reflects Moniepoint’s broader mission to invest in Nigeria’s talent and build engineering capacity that can compete and lead on a global stage. Moniepoint looks forward to welcoming the second cohort to the fold and witnessing the innovative solutions they have built.
Federal Government on Monday unveiled digital platforms under the Office of the Tax Ombud, enabling Nigerian taxpayers to resolve tax-related disputes free of charge as part of efforts to improve fairness, transparency and accountability in tax administration.
Taiwo Oyedele
Taiwo Oyedele, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, disclosed this during the launch of the Tax Ombud website, toll-free call centre and case management system at Stratton Hotel, Abuja.
Oyedele described the initiative as a major milestone in Nigeria’s fiscal reform agenda, saying the platforms would make tax dispute resolution more accessible to taxpayers nationwide.
“Taxpayers, regardless of location, can now engage more easily with the dispute resolution process without unnecessary administrative bottlenecks or delays, and the good news is that it is entirely free,” he said.
According to him, the Office of the Tax Ombud was established to strengthen taxpayer protection and boost confidence in Nigeria’s tax administration system.
He said the institution would serve as an independent and impartial platform for resolving complaints, mediating disputes and addressing systemic tax issues across the country.
Oyedele added that the initiative aligns with the Federal Government’s broader tax reforms aimed at simplifying tax administration, reducing arbitrariness, protecting taxpayer rights, encouraging voluntary compliance and building a globally competitive fiscal system.
“As we unveil these platforms today, let this mark a new era in tax administration in Nigeria, where taxpayers are treated not as adversaries but as partners in national development,” he said.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said Nigerians needed more awareness about the role of the Tax Ombud in supporting the economic reforms of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Idris said the government’s economic reforms were beginning to yield positive results, citing improvements in revenue performance and investment inflows.
Also speaking, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack, described the platforms as citizen-centred reforms designed to improve public access to tax complaint resolution.
She said tax administration should not only focus on revenue generation but also on strengthening trust and confidence in public institutions.
Nigeria’s first Tax Ombudsman and Chief Executive of the Office of the Tax Ombud, John Nwabueze, said the office was established under Part Six of the Joint Revenue Board of Nigeria Establishment Act 2025 to promote fairness, transparency and efficiency in tax administration.
He said the digital platforms would allow taxpayers to lodge complaints online or through the toll-free centre, track cases in real time and access mediation services without resorting to prolonged litigation.
Executive Secretary of the Joint Revenue Board, Olusegun Adesokan, said the office was created to protect taxpayer rights and mediate disputes between citizens and revenue authorities at no cost.
Special Adviser to the President on Economic Affairs in the Office of the Vice President, Tope Fasua, said the Tax Ombud forms part of the broader tax reform agenda initiated by the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform Committee.
He noted that the reforms are aimed at widening the tax net while exempting small businesses and low-income earners from additional tax burdens.
In June 2025, President Tinubu signed four major tax reform bills into law, including the Nigeria Tax Act, in what government officials described as a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s tax system.
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