(Alliance News) - Lekoil Ltd on Monday said it has named Michael Ajukwu as its new chair, just days after he was formerly appointed to the Nigeria-focused oil firm's board.
Lekoil shares were 13% higher at 1.98 pence each in London on Monday morning. The stock is however down 79% from a year ago.
Ajukwu, Thomas Richardson and George Maxwell joined Lekoil's board on Friday after voters at an extraordinary general meeting backed motions proposed by shareholder Metallon Corp Ltd.
Ajukwu replaces UK Conservative Party MP Mark Simmonds who was in the post for a year before saying on Friday he would step aside.
Back in December, Metallon, which has a 15% stake, proposed the addition of three non-executive directors to "bolster the management oversight and governance" at Lekoil. Metallon at the time said it was not seeking to take control of the company.
Days later, Lekoil fired back, labelling Metallon's proposals as "no more than an ill-disguised attempt" to take control of the company.
It had said that should Metallon's proposals be passed, the shareholder's appointees would represent 50% of Lekoil's board and also would have a casting vote.
"The board does not believe that it would be appropriate for a 15% shareholder, to enjoy that level of board representation and control over the company. Metallon has been a shareholder for less than six months," Lekoil said last month.
The friction between Lekoil and Metallon brought more unwanted attention to the oil firm, which roughly a year ago confirmed it had duped by fake investors.
The company at the start of January 2020 said it had agreed a loan with the Qatar Investment Authority to fund drilling and development at the Ogo field off the coast of Nigeria.
However, Lekoil later said representatives from the QIA had questioned the validity of the loan agreement. It also confirmed it had paid USD600,000 to Seawave Investment Ltd which acted as an introducer to those "purporting to be the QIA".
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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