The
Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) on Thursday said the Commission and
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had moved to intervene in the Etisalat loan
issue.
The Director of
Public Affairs of NCC, Mr Tony Ojobo said this in a statement issued in Abuja.
“After a meeting on
Thursday afternoon in Abuja between the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC,
Prof. Umar Danbatta and the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele and his
team, a decision was reached to intervene in the loan issue between Etisalat
Nigeria and a consortium of commercial banks.
“The meeting which was
held at the CBN in Abuja was convened by the financial regulator at the
instance of NCC and the telecom regulator to further deliberate on how best to
stop the attempt by the banks to take over Etisalat.
“At the end of the
meeting, the CBN agreed to invite Etisalat management and the banks to a
meeting tomorrow, Friday, toward finding an amicable resolution,’’ he said.
Ojobo said that the NCC
as a regulator of the telecom industry had moved quickly to intervene earlier
in the week by reaching out to the CBN because it was convinced of the negative
impact such takeover move would have on the industry.
He added that NCC was
worried about the fate of the over 20 million Etisalat subscribers and the
wrong signals this might send to potential investors in the Telecom industry.
It was reported that on
March 8, Etisalat was had been taken over by three banks because of its N541.8
billion debt.
However, NAN
correspondent spoke with the Head of Public Relations, Etisalat Nigeria, Ms
Oluseyi Osuntedo, dispelled the talk that banks had taken over the company.
Osuntedo NAN in Lagos
that discussions were still ongoing between the banks and the company.
“Discussions are going
on; nobody is taking up the company.
“It is not true that we
are being picketed, whoever gave the information is not telling the truth,” she
said.
A consortium of some
foreign and Nigerian banks, including Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank and
Zenith Bank, have been having a running battle with the mobile telephone
operator, over a loan facility totaling 1.72 billion dollars (about N541.8
billion) obtained in 2015.
The banks said their
attempt to recover the loan by all means, was fuelled by the pressure from the
Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), demanding immediate cut down on
the rate of their non-performing loans.
.
NCC appears not to be favorably disposed to the takeover proposal as it believed that Etisalat is not only a viable going concern, but also willing and able to negotiate the servicing of its loans.
.
NCC appears not to be favorably disposed to the takeover proposal as it believed that Etisalat is not only a viable going concern, but also willing and able to negotiate the servicing of its loans.
Etisalat is Nigeria’s
fourth largest telecoms operator with about 21 million subscribers as at
January 2017, according to the NCC.
It commenced business
in Nigeria in 2009.
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