NCC says 9mobile Acquisition on Course, As Parties Agree to Extension of Timeline

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has said that there is no cause for alarm regarding the sale of 9Mobile as the preferred bidder, Teleology Nigeria Ltd, make efforts to meet the deadline on payment for its acquisition.

Its Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta made this known in Abuja shortly after receiving an award from representatives of African Achievers Award ( AAA) who presented the EVC an Award of Excellence at the Commission’s Headquarters.

Prof Danbatta said a meeting would be held during the week among all the stakeholders, especially Teleology promoters, the NCC and the CBN and other parties.

He however declined to give details of the meeting, saying he would not like to pre-empt discussions at the meeting.

Meanwhile, the board of 9mobile yesterday announced the extension of the timeline for closure of the acquisition process.

The timeline extension was considered necessary to enable parties involved in the sale process to finalise the requisite transaction documentation to facilitate a smooth closure and transition to the new investor.

In a statement made available to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, the Board of 9mobile expressed satisfaction with the progress made thus far and expects the acquisition process to be completed as soon as possible. Further updates in this regard will be provided in due course.

“We hereby thank our invaluable customers for their support and reiterate our continuing commitment to providing best-in-class telecommunication service,” the statement added.

Prof. Danbatta also stated that as part of its effort to promote youth participation in ICT, the commission would deploy ICT tools, to tertiary institutions across the federation to help in facilitating research and development in the country.

He noted that the Digital Association Programme for Tertiary Institutions is one of its interventions to build human capacity in the universities.

According to him, “We are deploying information and communication technology in key sectors of the economy including education, in order to encourage informed learning and teaching”.

The EVC said the programme was aimed at educating students on how to leverage the power of information in content delivery in the university.

“This is consistent with the digital transformation that is going on all over the world and Nigeria cannot be an exception.

According to him the commission had made several efforts to protect Nigerians from being shorted changed, adding that the efforts had helped to transform the telecom industry in the country.

Speaking on the award, Prof Danbatta said the basis for the recognition is on the way the organization has empowered and protected the consumer with its eight point agenda which is all about empowering and protecting the consumer.

Earlier, the Principal Partner, African Achievers Award Mr. Rex Idaminabo said the award was aimed at encouraging them to do more especially by using the ICT platforms to ensure job creation and economic development.