Nigeria In One Minute
Danbatta: $100m Debts Delay Takeover of 9mobile
Fresh facts have emerged on why the sale of 9mobile still lingers despite the declaration of Teleology Holdings Limited as the preferred bidder by Barclays Africa, the financial adviser handling the sale.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, who disclosed this in an interview with THISDAY in Durban, South Africa, revealed that the delay in handing over 9mobile to Teleology was as a result of the unpaid $100 million outstanding debts, which 9mobile was supposed to pay to equipment suppliers and contractors like Huawei, IHS and Nokia, among others.
Although he said the $100 million as well as others were classified outside the $1.2 billion loan that the telecoms company owed the 13 local banks.
He, however, explained that the payment of the outstanding sum was part of the agreement reached by the parties involved in the sale of 9mobile, before handing over 9mobile to Teleology.
He equally said the due diligent report conducted by NCC on Teleology to ascertain its technical competence in managing 9mobile, had been submitted to the NCC board, but that the board was yet to come out with a position statement, based on the findings of the report, as a result of the delayed payments by 9mobile.
THISDAY, September 19, 2018
RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears
Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...