Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum and Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu,SAN, during the week attended the 40th Annual General Meeting of Odu’a Investment Company Limited, held at Lagos Airport Hotel, Lagos State.
Governor Akeredolu charged the board to strive more towards repositioning the company for the economic prosperity of the South-West region and its people.
The Governor also enjoined the company to accommodate the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission in the interest of the region and for efficient service delivery.
He called on the company to do more in Ondo State by inaugurating life changing projects especially in Agriculture.
Governor Akeredolu commended the board under the leadership of the immediate past Chairman, Dr Segun Aina, for changing the narratives of the company and shareholders, adding that a lot of strategies have been put in place.
He expressed delight that the outgone chairman was able to carry out those fundamental changes that the owner-States directed him to effect.
Other Governors present at the meeting are, Ogun state Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun: Ekiti state Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi represented by his deputy, Bisi Egbeyemi and Oyo State Governor, Engr Seyi Makinde who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Segun Ogunwuyi.
Also in attendance are the Secretary to the Ondo State Government, Princess Oladunni Odu; Commissioner for Finance, Wale Akinterinwa; shareholders and other Odu’a sons and daughters.
The AGM approved a total of N418.40m as dividends to shareholders. This is an improvement over the N364m dividends paid to shareholders in the previous year.
Mr Bimbo Ashiru from Ogun state was also unveiled as the company’s new chairman following the expiration of the tenure of outgone chairman, Dr Segun Aina.
Earlier, the outgone chairman of the company, Dr Segun Aina, revealed that Odu’a Investment grew revenue from N3.84 billion in 2020 to N4.01 billion in 2021, which represented a 4.4% growth in revenue.
According to him, Profit Before Tax grew significantly by 149.8% from N3.75 billion achieved in 2020 to N9.37 billion, driven by the increased focus on the different areas of the business and gains in investment properties.
“Our earnings per share also improved to N15.9 for 2021 compared to N15.1 in 2020”, he added.
The Group Managing Director of the company, Adewale Raji, promised not to relent in their efforts towards transforming the agricultural sector of the South-West geo-political zone through South-West Agricultural Company Limited (SWAGCO Ltd), among other various initiatives.
Packaged by Emmanuel Adeniran
