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Samson Ezugworie to act as Interim Seplat Energy CEO as Brown Steps down

The management and board of Seplat Petroleum Limited have approved the appointment of Samson Ezugworie as the acting CEO. Samson takes over the interim role following the stepping down of Roger Brown

On Friday, the Chairman of the Board of Seplat, Basil Omiyi, issued a statement revealing that the embattled CEO had delegated authority to the Chief Operating Officer, Mr Samson Ezugwore, to act as CEO during his absence.

The statement further disclosed that Seplat had received court processes and an ex parte order from Justice Chukwuejekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, Lagos, Nigeria, which restrains Mr Roger Brown, the CEO, from participating in the running of the company for seven days.


The court order was based on allegations of unfair, prejudicial, and offensive acts by the Chairman, CEO, and all of the Independent Non-Executive Directors of Seplat Energy. The allegations include the CEO's organization of a site visit for some of the major shareholders to the company's operations, the cancellation of some catering and landscaping contracts, and the introduction of a new job performance rating.

However, Seplat Energy refuted these allegations, stating that since Roger became CEO in 2020, Nigerians have been appointed to the company's most crucial positions, including Chairman, Senior Independent Non-Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Operating Officer.

The board maintained that the allegations against it were reactions to its implementation of corporate governance standards and its determination to continue to uphold its fiduciary duties to the company.

The statement also indicated that the court order permits the Chairman, Mr Basil Omiyi, and all the Independent Non-Executive Directors of Seplat Energy to continue running the affairs of the company as long as it complies with Nigerian law

Samson Ezugwuorie joined Seplat in September 2022 from Dutch Oil giant SHELL Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), where he worked for 25 years and held key senior roles.

He is from Eha-Alumona, Nsukka Local Government.

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