MTN, Airtel, ntel, 13 Other Firms Scramble for 9mobile Emma Okonji The scramble to acquire 9mobile, Nigeria’s fourth largest network operator, promises to be very competitive, as 16 firms have submitted expressions
of interest (EoIs) to Barclays to bid for 9mobile, THISDAY has learnt. Companies that have expressed interest in 9mobile, which until recently was Etisalat Nigeria Limited, until a debt default forced its former
owner to relinquish its stake in the firm and exit Nigeria, include Africa’s biggest telecoms operator, MTN; India’s Bharti Airtel, operating as Airtel in Nigeria; and ntel, which in 2015 acquired the assets of the defunct NITEL
and MTel through the federal government’s privatisation programme. Also in the race are Bua Group, the privately held conglomerate promoted by Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu; Morning Side Capital Partners,
promoted by the former Managing Director of Diamond Bank Plc, Mr. Alex Otti; and Africell, a subsidiary of the Lebanon-based Lintel Group of Companies, with cellular communications operations in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC), The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Uganda. Other firms that submitted EoIs are Obot Etiebet & Co, belonging to a former petroleum minister, Mr. Don Continued on page 10
DMO Clarifies Position on $5.5bn Proposed External Capital Raising… Page 56 Monday 23 October, 2017 Vol 22. No 8222. Price: N250
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Court Order on Forfeiture of Monies Not Linked to BVN Unsettles Banks
Lenders may challenge order as liquidity squeeze looms NIBSS data shows 18m accounts not linked to BVN Policy not backed by law, order is illegal and unconstitutional, say lawyers, experts Obinna Chima There was disquiet in the banking sector at the weekend following a Federal High Court ex parte order in Abuja that all monies in bank accounts owned by corporate organisations, government agencies or individuals that are without
bank verification numbers (BVNs) will be forfeited to the federal government in 14 days from the date the order was given should the owners of the accounts fail to show cause why their monies should not be forfeited. Continued on page 10
FG Considers Review of NNPC Appointments Senate probe on corporation to focus on preferential treatment for Duke Oil Omololu Ogunmade and Damilola Oyedele in Abuja The presidency is currently considering a review of the recent senior executive appointments of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) made by its Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, THISDAY
has learnt. The decision to consider a review of the appointments is predicated on the alleged breach of due process in the appointments and contract awards to the tune of $25 billion raised by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Continued on page 10
EU Denies Favouring Buhari in EXECUTIVE, LEGISLATIVE HARMONY… Yemi Osinbajo (left), with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, at the 2015 Presidential Election… Page 55 Vice-President Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos… weekend