A Controversy is brewing over the planned sale, through a negotiated method with a potential buyer, the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) and its mobile telephone subsidiary, M-Tel.
In fact, they may be sold to a Nigerian company soon, The Guardian has learnt.
The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) announced on Tuesday conditions to be met by would -be buyers.
But Presidency sources are uncomfortable that with the new arrangement, NITEL may be sold as a carcass since the interim technical board put in place with a mandate to among others restore the former telecoms giant as a going concern to beef up the profile of the place selling is yet to properly take off.
The thinking in government circles is that the seemingly hurried privatisation exercise this time may pitch government's plan to revive the place against the BPE renewed process.
This, industry watchers think, may add to the lethargy of failures.
Disagreements among the seven members of the NITEL Technical Board may be the Achilles heel of the renewed privatization exercise.
Of the seven members of the board, BPE has two while the non-BPE officials are five.
The two BPE officials think NITEL should be sold as a carcass but the other five think differently.
While some of the other five members allege undercurrents in the proposed sales, to a Nigerian company, thus creating a big monopoly in the area of fixed lines services, BPE thinks differently.
The five members opposed to the hurried privatization think that BPE man have decided to jump the gun because it may have allegedly compromised on its set objectives to sell a NITEL that could meet up with competition despite all the odds against it.
A BPE source confirmed to The Guardian on telephone that there was no going back on the process of sales.
The source who chose not to be named also denied any undercurrent now or before.
Reminded that the board has five against two for BPE and the process, the official said that was immaterial, as "NITEL has become a dead wood that can hardly ignite any fire."
But a board member said last night that "BPE's refusal to allow for a technical and financial audit to reflect NITEL's true state before privatisation is suspicious and runs country to and is a mockery of due process and transparency mantra of the government. I think the BPE people have already compromised," he alleged.
The Guardian learnt that the game plan to sell NITEL to a particular company was played out recently during a trip of BPE officials to Dubai, United Arab Emirate (UAE) during which two former chieftains of NITEL and M-Tel, among others, met with BPE and officials from this penciled company.
The disagreement between BPE and the other five members of the board is also closely linked to the allegation of illegal meeting of the board without BPE's knowledge, as privatisation Secretariat.
But another board member said the only meeting they held was before the aborted inauguration sometime last month and it was specifically to fine-tune the process of revival and how it could be achieved.
One of such has paid off with the liquidation of outstanding debt owed the undersea cable or SAT-3 consortium to which NITEL is a signatory, to avoid NITEL, being cut off the international network.
Besides this, existing workers half pay has also been liquidated.
Presidency sources said, the BPE issue and the lethargy of failures of privatization of several government firms might top the agenda when enlarged National Council on Privatisation (NCP) meets today. No fewer than five ministers are members of the NCP. BPE is likely to present a position paper to the council.
The sale of 75 per cent share of NITEL/M-Tel to Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) in November 2006 was the third and perhaps the most successful of the past three attempts.
Even at that, the 75 per cent was reduced to 51 per cent because the new buyers could not meet the financial obligation according to the Share Purchase Sales Agreement (SPSA).
Transcorp took a $500 million facility from a consortium of banks led by UBA Plc.
That is part of the debt that the new buyers are likely to inherit.
On June 2, 2009, government cancelled the sales to Transcorp and named a technical management board, which set up network restoration and finance committees to repackage the comatose enterprise.
Besides the announcement of its proposed sale for the fourth time, BPE has also announced a vacancy for a new Managing Director, but whether this will supercede the position of the interim MD named by the board is another question.
Besides labour related issues, a debt overhang of over N20 billion, castrated assets and liabilities arising from unpaid workers arrears, pensioners' dues and third party debts, NITEL/M-Tel are said to be a shadow of its old self.
The BPE listed the key goals of NITEL privatisation strategy to include the ability:
. To attract a world class strategic investor with a proven capacity to develop NITEL and its services in both fixed and mobile telecoms;
. To maximise transaction value for Nigerian people:
. To make the transaction a landmark in Nigeria's efforts to modernize its economy and build an image of efficiency.
But the failed attempt of 2001, during which Investors International London Limited (ILL), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) defaulted in paying the bid price of $1.317 billion, the fortunes of NITEL and the exercise to revamp it dwindled.
Orascom's bid of $256.5 million three years later created a more nightmare.
Even, the resort to management farm out by the appointment of Pentascope of Netherlands did not bring any succour. Then in November 2006, BPE sold NITEL to Transcorp for $500 million.
And according to a former managing director of NITEL last night, "this too has failed and the question many ask now is what is the fate of this new exercise."
(Source:Guardian)
