Frank Ellah finally Leaves Ellah Lakes Plc one year after Foreign Takeover

Frank Ellah, the former Chief Executive Officer of NSE-listed agriculture firm – Ellah Lakes Plc, has finally departed from the company. His resignation comes barely one year after Telluria Limited took over ownership of the company, thereby unseating Ellah as CEO even though he remained temporarily as an Executive Director.

The company announced Mr Ellah’s resignation, yesterday, in a statement that was made available to the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Part of the statement said:

“Ellah Lakes Plc (the “Company”) announces the resignation of Mr. Frank Ellah as a director of the
Company with effect from 6 November 2020. The board of directors (the “Board”) and management of the Company are grateful to Mr. Frank Ellah for his esteemed service to the Company.”

Note that  that Mr Ellah is believed to be a relative of late Senator F.J Ellah, the businessman who established the Benin-based agriculture company in 1980. He served as CEO of the company until June 2019 when Chudi Mordi took over, following the very special deal that saw Tulleria Limited taking over ownership of the firm.

More about Ellah Lakes Plc

On January 14 1993 which was exactly thirteen years after incorporation, Ellah Lakes Plc listed its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Business went smoothly until years later when the firm began to post losses due to operational difficulties.

Last year, Ellah Lakes reached an agreement to “acquire” Tulleria Limited in a bid to improve its balance sheet. However, because the company was broke and could not afford to pay off Tulleria’s owners, it decided to settle the deal by paying in equity. This was what gave Tulleria Limited’s shareholders majority stake in the company.