BY EMMA UJAH
ABUJA—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.

On the performance of the company, shareholders expressed displeasure that they did not receive any dividend, in spite of the year 2010 profit of N3.32 billion declared by the board. The profit was transferred to general reserves.

The chairman said the growth recorded by the company during the year under review was as a result of deliberate refocusing of its business as well as a write back of N2. 85 billion provision made in previous year for investment in OPL 281 which was considered lost, but now reallocated to the company.

She said: “This marked an important turning point in the history of the company. Hence, year 2010 operating results and performance is remarkable and commendable, given the enormity of the challenges in the operating environment.”

She added that the acquired Transcorp Metropolitan Hotel, Calabar, has become operational and that an architectural firm has also been commissioned to design a proposed Transcorp Ikoyi Hilton on Rumens Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Transcorp, she added also signed a deal with the Benue state government for the lease of Benfruit, a new fruit concentrate processing plant in the state.

The former Managing Director of the United Bank for Africa, Mr. Tony Elumelu was annoiced as having joined the board of Transcorp.

Shares of Transcorp sold to members of the public in 2007 through public offerings at N7.50 have since crashed in value, having fallen to as low as 79 kobo on Wednesday, this week.