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KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja
The House of Representatives on Wednesday sought to halt the ongoing sale of 9mobile to Teleology, following fresh concerns raised by regulatory agencies and other stakeholders.
Saheed Akiande-Fijabi, chairman, House Committee on Telecommunications, expressed concerns during an investigative hearing on various petitions and doubts raised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and some of the vendors owed by 9mobile, among others.
Akinade-Fijabi and other members of the Committee had expressed concerns over the non-appearance of representatives of Barclay’s Africa, financial advisor, appointed by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and Syndicate Owners of 9mobile (consortium of banks) at Wednesday’s meeting.
The consortium of 13 banks had N130 billion exposure to the troubled Etisalat, hence the resolve for the apex bank’s intervention.
However, representative of 9mobile who spoke at the meeting, confirmed that the $50 million paid by Teleology, adding that the sales agreement between the parties has been signed with the new investor.
In response to question concerning the $50 million non-refundable fee paid by the new investor, Umar Dambatta, NCC Executive Vice Chairman, denied knowledge of the account where the money was paid into.
A representative of the CBN also denied knowledge of the account into which the $50 million was paid.
Akinade-Fijabi in an interview with BusinessDay after the meeting, also stressed the need for all the parties, including the Financial Transaction Adviser (Barclays Africa), Teleology, NCC, IHS, Smile and other vendors, as well as the major regulatory agencies involved in salvaging the collapse of Etisalat, to be in attendance at the next investigate public hearing.
He also stressed the need for the parties to give assurances on the payment of N1.1 billion unpaid fees and levies owed the Federal Government.
To this end, he disclosed that the Committee would re-convene within the next 14 days, with a view to resolving all grey areas, so as to expedite the transition process.
He further reiterated the Committee’s resolve to ensure transparency and adherence to international best practice, as well as protect the interests of over 20 million subscribers, as well as hundreds existing jobs.
“Since the Committee has commenced investigation into the sale of 9mobile, all the parties are under obligation to keep the Committee abreast of the processes.
“The allegations on ground border on non-transparency of the entire processes, including the bid process and the choice of Geology. We also have issues of the vendors before us, so that necessitated us to ask all the parties to appear at the next hearing.
“As you know, we will be embarking on Easter recess tomorrow, but the Committee has resolved to cut short its recess, as far as the parties are ready to converge. We are sacrificing the recess in the nation’s interest and to ensure that the process is not delayed further.
“Once we can reconcile all the parties and resolve all the grey areas, then the regulators can conclude the process. But as it is, we must do all within our reach to avoid encumbrances like litigation or take-over by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON),” Akinade-Fijabi stressed.
