Etisalat undergoes ‘seamless transition,’ as Interim Management takes over

*Employees plan mass exit
Etisalat Nigeria Telecommunications company has said it is undergoing “seamless transition” to interim management following, an agreement it has reached with the consortium of its creditors on Monday.

The consortium of creditor-banks include Acces Bank Plc, among others.

The transition agreement was brokered with the banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), while official announcement on the interim management team is to be made by the company.

The embattled telecoms company was earlier in a logjam, with a debt of N541 billion, leading to a take-over attempt by the lender banks.

Following the impasse, Mubadala Group, the major investor from the United Arab Emirates, pulled out of Nigeria’s fourth largest mobile operator, while its chairman, Keem Belo-Osagie, stepped down.

A recent report indicated that the Chief Executive officer, Matthew Willsher, and the Chief Financial Officer, Olawole Obasunloye, have both stepped down.

A senior official of the company, however, said that, “The transition was successful. Everybody is back at their duty post and the lights are back on.”

When our correspondent contacted the Vice President, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, Etisalat Nigeria, Ibrahim Dikko, on phone, he said that he could “not confirm the report for now.”

In a related development, there is palpable fear of job losses in Etisalat despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s and the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) assurances to the company’s employees that it will prevent any retrenchment of workers, following the ongoing restructuring by the company.

However, a reliable source at Etisalat informed our correspondent over the weekend, that Etisalat’s employees have thought otherwise and are in fact, alternative jobs in rival telecommunications’ companies, following the resignation of Hakeem Belo-Osagie on Friday.

Daily Times gathered from the source that, “although, they said the resignation of the chairman will pave way for legal and operational restructuring, as well as, the sacking of many people, many want to leave before they are sacked.”

However, the Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, while fielding question at a Breakfast meeting with Nigeria Information Technology Reporters (NITRA) in Lagos, on Friday, appealed to all parties involved in the loan crisis to resolve the issue in the interest of consumers, the industry and the economy.

He said that Etisalat’s financial crisis is similar to the Mobitel’s crisis of 10 years ago, “where a loan taken by Mobitel from the defunct Intercontinental Bank, resulted in the receivership attempting to take it over, and this led to the eventual collapse of the company and death of its chairman, Charles Joseph.”

“Some policies of the government, such as, multiple taxations, Right of Way, among others, do not favour the telecoms’ industry and this is indeed the remote cause of the Etisalat’s crisis.

“Part of government’s policy on forex, is responsible for the state of the telecommunications’ industry. The issue of Etisalat with banks, which I don’t want to speak much on, is a typical example,” he said.