FG finally sells nitel-mtel for N252m

Council on Privatisation(NCP) chaired by Vice-President Namadi Sambo on Thursday ratified the sale of the liquidated Nigeria Telecommunication Plc and it’s subsidiary, M-tel, to NATCOM Consortium for $252. The ratification was one of the decisions taken at the NCP meeting at the Presidential Villa. Chairman of NCP’s Technical Committee, Atedo Peterside, told newsmen after the meeting that NATCOM beat one other bidder that was also prequalified to clinch the deal. He said this now ends the entire bidding process and what is now left is to conclude the necessary documentation, he stated. This transaction is different from what happened with sale of power plants sale because Nitel is not an ongoing concern but a liquidated one no longer in business. In view of this, the liquidator will through the court pay some verified claims of creditors of Nitel/ M-tel, which therefore sidesteps the issue of third party creditors but it does not preclude the Government from settling any obligations it feels like, Peterside explained. Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Musa Sada, pointed out that the ultimate objective is to have the moribund firms resuscitated and work better for Nigerians, not just to sell them off. Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Benjamin Dikki, announced that Indorama Eleme Petrochemical Limited has passed the performance evaluation administered on it. It means that Indorama has fulfilled the sale purchase agreements it signed with BPE and is therefore freed from a five-year probation/monitoring period. Source: www.withinnigeria.com