An Abuja high court has set aside
matters on the sale of Etisalat Nigeria, the country’s fourth largest telecom
network — which is now 9mobile — to Teleology Nigeria Limited.
According to The Nation, Binta
Nyako, the judge, in a ruling, invalidated all moves taken with respect to the
exchange of ownership of Etisalat.
“Any action that has been taken
concerning the rest of this litigation from the 25th day of April, which is
earlier in time, should revert to the position, as of the res, to its 25th day
of April 2018,” the judge said.
The ruling, dated April 1, 2019,
was in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/288/2018 filed on April 6, 2018, by Afdin
Ventures Limited and Dirbia Nigeria Limited, the two major investors in
Etisalat.
The two major investors — with
investments estimated at $43,033,950 — had sued Etisalat to retrieve their
investments following their exclusion from the decision making process of the
firm.
The plaintiffs had said they met
the court to void the sale of Etisalat, upon learning that the defendants have
proceeded to conclude the transfer of the company’s ownership despite earlier
restraining orders.
“In 2009, the
plaintiffs/applicants purchased a total of 4,303,391 class “A” shares from the
1st, 2nd and 5th defendants (Karlingtton, Premium Telecommunication and
Etisalat International) at the rate of $43,033,950 only, and were issued with
share certificates,” they said in a supporting affidavit to the motion dated
November 16, 2018.
“In 2010, the defendants
rebranded Etisalat Nigeria Limited to 9mobile and entered into negotiations
with Smile.com and Glo Network to transfer its licence without recourse to the
plaintiffs.
“When the plaintiffs became aware
of the purported transaction, they filed this suit along with two applications
namely: motion ex-parte and motion on notice, seeking for an order of
injunction to restrain the defendants from going ahead with the transaction.
“When this suit came up for
hearing on the 17th of April, 2018, this honourable court ordered parties to
maintain status quo-pending the determination of the motion on notice.”
Defendants in the suit are:
Karington Telecommunication Ltd, Premium Telecommunications Holdings NV, First
Bank of Nigeria Plc, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Etisalat International
Nigeria Ltd and Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Teleology formally took over the
management of 9mobile following the issuance of the final approval of no objection
by the board of the NCC on November 12, 2018.
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