THE
fear of sudden acquisition by a consortium of local banks that Etisalat
Nigeria is indebted to has prompted it to ran to the Central Bank of Nigeria,
(CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC), for bailout.
The Banks gave loans to Etisalat two years
ago but the teleco has not been able to pay back the loan, according to the
Nation. The development is fallout of the difficult being faced by the telco in
settling the debt.
Already, the telco has approached the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)
for their intervention to prevent the takeover of the telco.
Sources said the CBN has already arranged
a meeting with executives of the affected banks on the issue, adding that the
banks’ chiefs at a meeting with CBN three days ago, were non-committal to the
apex bank’s truce.
The bank executives are now said to be
waiting until today, March 7, when the “cure period” (a period of time when a party
that breaches a contract can remedy the breach without penalty) will end.
It was learnt that the creditor banks plan
to approach the telecom industry regulator, the Nigerian Communication
Commission (NCC) “to update the Executive Vice Chairman Prof Umar Danbatta of the situation before any
overture is made to possible buyers” for
the company”.
But a source close to the telco denied any
plan to take over the telco, insisting that its management was intact, and
working round the clock to offer quality services to its over 20 million
customers across the country.
While confirming the Etisalat’s
indebtedness, a Senior Executive of the company said the economic headwind had
made the repayment a little difficult.
“Yes we raised funds from a consortium of
banks about two years ago in the country. We have been making conscious efforts
to repay the debts and we have indeed repaid part of it. We are engaging with
the banks, negotiating with them with a view to coming out with a method of
repaying the loan, the source said.
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