FG approves two consortium to bid for NITEL/MTEL assets

The Federal Government on Monday approved two of the 17 interested companies to bid for the assets of Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd (NITEL) and its subsidiary, Mobile Telecommunication Ltd (MTEL).

The Minister of Mines and Steel, Alhaji Musa Sada, said this in Abuja when he briefed newsmen after the meeting of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), which was presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo.

Musa said that the approval of the two companies followed the consideration of the evaluation reports for the expression of interests on the guided liquidation of NITEL/MTEL.

He said, “Part of the consideration that we had, we had quite a number of companies, about 17 were shortlisted based on a criteria; it is guided.

“There is a criteria that is used at every point in time and of this evaluation of the 17 (companies), two qualified for request for proposal issuance.

“This is what the Council deliberated upon today and approved the qualification of the two companies, and the two companies are NATCOM Consortium and Nectar Consortium.

“These are groups of investors in the sector and they came top with 90.7 per cent and 90.2 per cent, respectively.

“These are the two companies the council today approved for further consideration in this exercise”.

The minister said that government’s efforts at getting NITEL/MTEL back on stream had been strenuous and challenging.

He, however, said that by the time the ongoing arrangement was fully implemented, NITEL and its subsidiary, MTEL, would attain the height for which it was originally established.

“You will agree with me that efforts at getting NITEL back on stream has been very strenuous because of so many issues, so many problems; but this time around, there has been strong efforts so that we do not go back to what we had before.

“With what is put in place, we are very confident that we would only move forward to the appropriate destination.

“The idea here is for us to have a working institution, not necessarily a situation where these assets are just dispensed with for whatever reasons.

“From our discussions today, we are making sure that this asset does not go to somebody, who for other considerations, will want to own it and keep it.

“Our target is to make sure that NITEL and MTEL come back on stream. It has very robust assets and it will be a very good thing for the country.

“Mobile telephones and networks are not substitute for landlines and that is why we are doing everything we can to bring it back to work”, he added.

Sada dismissed insinuations of any planned asset-stripping of the Aluminum Smelter Company Ltd (ALSCON), saying the committee set up to investigate the matter had just submitted its report.

According to him, the committee’s report had not even reached the Chairman of NCP, meaning that the NCP was yet to receive the report for consideration.

“It is the NCP that has the right to say whether there is asset-stripping or not, because the assets were transferred based on certain agreements.

“So, the earlier statement from the media that there was no asset-stripping is jumping the gun”, he maintained.

Sada announced that a committee to be headed by the Minister of Mines and Steel had been constituted by the council to come up with a strategy that would ensure that the entitlements of all ALSCON staff were settled.

He said that the committee would also be expected to come up with a strategy to ensure that the company resumed full production.

The minister said that the council also approved the transfer of its 51 per cent shareholding in Stallion Property Development Company to NNPC pensions’ funds to bridge pension gap.

Also briefing the correspondents on the outcome of the council’s meeting, the Minister of Works, Mr Mike Onolememen, said that the council granted a five-year leave extension to Associated Maritime Services, the concessionaire for the New Warri port.

He said that the approval of the extension followed a “no objection memo” forwarded to the council by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, and the Minister of Transport.