The Transnational Corporation PLC had a rowdy Annual General Meeting
in Abuja, yesterday, as angry shareholders took on the Chairman, Dr Ndi
Okereke-Onyuike, over the company’s poor performance and crowding out
shareholders with proxies.
Signs of trouble were palpable early in the AGM as scores of
scruffily dressed men claiming to be proxies took over most of the seats
in the Congress Hall of Transcorp Hilton, venue of the meeting. The
hotel staff had to expand the hall to accommodate more people.
National Chairman of Supreme Shareholders Association, Mr. Owolabi
Peter, voiced the shareholders’ displeasure and asked the board chairman
to send them out of the meeting.
Soon after, emotions ran high, developing into a shouting match
between those who felt that the proxies were specially “employed” to
ensure the entrenchment of certain interests among board members and
those who obviously did not see anything wrong with the arrangement.
The meeting was therefore interrupted for some minutes until Dr.
Okereke-Onyuike ordered that those creating the scene be taken out by a
combined team of armed policemen and officers of the State Security
Services.
In the ensuing confusion, the securitymen swooped on the actors which
created panic among shareholders, with some keeping quiet. But one of
them was hounded out of the hall before the business of the day could
continue.
Unimpressed by the performance of the security men who struggled with
the shareholder for a while before he was overpowered, Dr.
Okereke-Onyuike threatened to personally carry out anybody that further
tried to disrupt proceedings.
Several shareholders who spoke on the floor criticized the handling
of the situation which was considered too autocratic and that the board
should have given protection to shareholders rather than asking to be
arrested by security officers over issues that could have been resolved,
amicably, by the meeting.
Source: Vanguard Newspaper
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