President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered an investigation into the sale of the Nigerian Telecommunication (NITEL) and its subsidiary, Mobile Telecommunication Plc (MTEL).
The Rainbow had reported back in April, before the inauguration of the present administration, that NITEL sale would be reviewed as it was learnt by the those close to Buhari that the sale of the former telecommunications monopoly was fraught with fraud.
It was learnt them that some top officials of the presidency used proxies to to purchase the priced asset .
President Buhari on Tuesday directed full probe into the sale of the two firms to establish whether the country was not shortchanged in the entire process that led to their handover to a new core investor.
NATCOM Consortium had in April, taken over NITEL/MTEL after paying the bid amount as the preferred bidder.
The Federal Government through its privatisation agency, the bureau of Public Enterprises, made five failed attempts in 14 years to privatise the companies.
Buhari made the position of his administration known after a briefing on the state of affairs of the telecoms sector from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communications Technology, Dr. Tunji Olaopa and other officials in Abuja.
The president said although he was not opposed to the sale of the national communication firm, there was the need to ensure that the country was not shortchanged in the process.
He also directed the ministry to work harder to fully develop the revenue-generation potential of Nigeria’s information technology sector.
Buhari asked the officials to bring forward for his consideration and approval, all pending proposals for the development of the IT sector, which require the approval of the Federal Executive Council.
“Where you don’t need Exco’s approval and you are not in breach of the law and will not lose money, you can go ahead. Now that oil costs less and we are contending with its theft, we have to move to areas where we can realise revenue quickly,” the president said.
Buhari welcomed the plan by the ministry to use post offices nationwide for IT and financial transactions, especially in the rural communities, saying that he is happy to hear that “we are recovering the post offices from rats and rodents.”
The ministry’s presentation to the president dwelled on the potential of the IT sector which, Olaopa said, contributed 10 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but could grow to 20 per cent.
Olaopa, while briefing the state house correspondents after the session with the president, said Buhari was deeply concerned about the sale of NITEL/ MTEL, adding that “The president was concerned about the quality of service of telecom operators.
“The president is very concerned about the whole issue of privatisation that is hindering the investments in ICT infrastructure and that he will personally champion this. The president talked about the potentials of the ICT sector in generating employment. The president was concerned about the liquidation of NITEL.
“He is not opposed to its privatization, but he wants to know and he wants us to bring a memo on how the whole transaction was undertaken so that he would know whether Nigeria was shortchanged.”
Efforts to privatise NITEL/ MTEL started in 2001 and, in the last 14 years of the exercise, it has witnessed twists and turns.
The strategic core investor sale of 51 per cent shareholding of NITEL to Investors International London Limited (IILL) in 2001 was revoked while another failed management contract was recorded with Pentascope in 2002.
In addition, the failed privatisation bids include the aborted Orascom Telecoms bid in 2005 and another strategic core investor sale through negotiated sale strategy to Transcorp, which was cancelled in 2009.
Also in 2011, another strategic core investor sale involved New Generation Communications Limited and Omen International with the two companies emerging as preferred and reserved bidders respectively fell through.
However, after a review of the chequered history of the privatisation transactions of NITEL, the NCP at its meeting of February 27, 2012, approved the privatisation of NITEL and MTEL through guided liquidation.
This culminated in a financial bid opening of December 3, 2014, where NATCOM Consortium won the bid to the tune of $252.25 million after its closest rival, the NETTAG Consortium, failed to post the bid bond, which was crucial to survive the technical evaluation test.
NATCON Consortium, led by Skye Bank Plc’s Chairman, Tunde Ayeni, finally acquired NITEL/ MTEL in April, this year, having completed the payment of $252.251million cost of acquisition.
However, there have been reservations from some quarters concerning the amount the government sold the telecoms firms to NATCOM Consortium, which was considered grossly undervalued.
