Telecom
O&O Network Appeals Court Order to Deposit N22.5Bn for Airtel Shares
O&O Network has filed a notice of appeal against the ruling of the Federal high court ordering it to deposit N22.5 billion with the chief registrar of the court pending the determination of the substantive suit.
Mojisola Olatoregun, presiding judge, stated that the sanctity of the court must be protected. She ordered further that the money should be kept in an interest yielding account in a commercial bank at the Central Bank of Nigeria interest rate.
Justice Olatoregun later adjourned till 29 May, 2019 for hearing of the substantive suit.
The $28,728,125 suit was jointly instituted by a Nigerian Industrial mogul Oba Otudeko and his company, Broad communications Limited against a cellular mobile telecommunications company, Airtel Networks Limited (formerly known as Econet Wireless Nigeria Limited )and 9 others.
The order of the court was sequel to an application filed before the court by the plaintiffs, Oba Otudeko and his company, Broad Communications Limited, urging the court to direct one of the defendants, O&O Network Limited to deposit the sum of N22.5 billion being the sum of a purported transfer of 16,002,404 shares of Airtel, into an interest yielding account in the name of the Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court to be domicile at Zenith Bank or First Bank pending the determination of the instant suit by the court.
Joined as co -defendants in the suit filed before a Federal high court in Lagos south west Nigeria are: a promoter of Airtel Jubril Adewale Tinubu, with 9,906,250 shares being 9.9% voting capital, O&0 Networks limited, Delta ministry of Finance Incorporated, Delta State Government, Corporate Affairs Commission, Econet wireless Limited, Econet Development Corporation,Ecobank Nigeria limited, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated.
The plaintiffs alleged that by order of the court issued on the 5th of February, 2015 the court mandated parties to maintain status quo in respect of shares held in Airtel Network Limited.
However notwithstanding the orders made by the court, O&O Network entered into arrangement for the sale and transfer of shares in Airtel Network limited to Bharti Airtel Nigeria BV. for the sum of N22.5billion.
The transfer of the shares to Bharti Airtel Nigeria BV, was alleged to be in violation of the order of the court.
According to an amended statement of claim filed on behalf of Oba Otudeko and Broad communications Limited by Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, OFR, the plaintiffs alleged that sometime in 2011, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated acquired the defunct Oceanic bank Plc with all its liabilities and assets which at the time of acquisition included the 3rd defendant O&0 Network limited.
Prior to the acquisition of Oceanic bank the plaintiffs became aware that the 4th defendant, Delta State ministry of Finance incorporated and the 5th defendant Delta State Government purportedly transfer their beneficial ownership in the shares of the O&0 Network Limited back to 2nd defendant, Jubril Adewale Tinubu who subsequently purported to have transferred the shares to Oceanic bank Plc as part of a process of securitization and foreclosure arising from loans advanced to him by Oceanic bank.
The plaintiffs stated further that in the course of promoting Airtel, it was a fundamental term that in order to facilitate financing arrangements, Nigerian individual shareholders would take their shares in their own names or by the agency of their respective nominee vehicles. By this agreement Oba Otudeko was to hold directly or indirectly, 15% of the ordinary shares and Jubril Adewale Tinubu was to hold directly or indirectly about 10% of the ordinary shares of the company.
Further to the above arrangement and as preliminary step toward the acquisition of 40% equity stake in Airtel, Oba Otudeko and Adewale Tinubu through a special purpose corporate vehicle called First Independent Network limited FINL, executed a settlement agreement dated 11 June 2001,with Econet International Limited.
It was also selected fundamental term of the agreement that Nigerians would hold 40% of the ordinary shares and that Econet Wireless International EWI, being the original technical partner would hold 40%,while 20% was reserved for Transtel -a South African company.
Oba Otudeko took 13,035,936 shares in the name of Broad communication and 187,500 in his own name while Adewale Tinubu took 9,906,250 shares in the name of Ocean &Oil services and later transferred same to O&0 Network .
The shareholders agreement confers on the shareholders a’ ‘right of first refusal’ in relation to the disposal of shares or interest therein by any conceivable means;and outline procedures to be followed for giving notice of intention to dispose and further mechanism for dealing with such shares.
The plaintiffs alleged further that sometime in 2005, without any formal or informal notice they became aware that in 2001 and 2003, Jubril Adewale Tinubu acting as the alter ego of O&0 Network reached secret agreements to transfer all the company’s share in Airtel to Delta State ministry of Finance incorporated and Delta State Government for a premium.
The 9,906,250 ordinary shares of the O&0 Network sold, in breach of the plaintiffs pre -emptive right was valued at $4.50 thereby amounting to $44,578,125.
The transaction was deliberately concealed from the plaintiffs and other shareholders with Adewale Tinubu continuing to represent that he represented himself rather than the Delta State ministry of finance incorporated and Delta State Government on the board of Directors of Airtel.
The plaintiffs averred that Adewale Tinubu and one David Edevbie, the then commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning in Delta State made statements to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC in or about August-November 2004 admitting that the respective transactions entered into between them had the sole objective of dealing in the shares of Airtel contrary to the agreement and the understandings binding parties and other shareholders in the Airtel company.
On 11th of March, 2013,the plaintiffs divested their interest in the Aitel Company.
The value of the 9,906,250 ordinary shares sold by Adewale Tinubu and O&0 Network to Delta State ministry of finance incorporated and Delta State Government in breach of the Plaintiffs pre -emptive rights had appreciated in value from $4.5 per share to $7.4 per share as at the time the plaintiffs divested their interest in the Airtel company amounting to $73,306,250, consequently the differential in the value of the shares when the plaintiffs divested their interest amounts to $28,728,125.
The plaintiffs claim against the defendants jointly and severally are as follows:
An order mandating the defendants to pay the Plaintiffs the sum of $28,728,125 being the interest /profit accrued on the 9,906,250, ordinary shares sold in breach of the plaintiffs pre -emptive rights in the Airtel Company.
Interest on same at the rate of 23% per annum from 15th July, 2003 till judgement is delivered.
Cost of this legal action assessed at N100 million.
However, In an affidavit in support of statement of defence sworn to by Airtel legal officer Kingsley Anyiam, filed on behalf of Airtel by a Lagos lawyer, Barrister C. A.Candide-Johnson SAN, the deponent averred that Airtel was not privy to the facts that led up to the dispute, as relayed by the Plaintiffs in their statement of claim.
In addition Airtel is not a party to the shareholders agreement which forms the crux of this dispute, as the shareholders agreement was entered strictly among the shareholders of Airtel as at the relevant time of this suit.
Consequently the Plaintiffs statement of claim do not have any adverse reliefs against Airtel. Therefore, Airtel need not be party to this suit in order to comply with any lawful order of the court.
Telecom
WIOCC’s Strategic Role in Addressing Subsea Cable Outages
WIOCC, Africa’s digital backbone, is leading the continent’s response to the cable cuts currently affecting the WACS, ACE, Main One and SAT3 subsea systems on Africa’s western seaboard.
WIOCC’s highly resilient network, with hyperscale capacity on every major system is the largest in Africa and ideally placed to swiftly deliver restoration solutions to hyperscalers, fixed and mobile carriers, internet service providers and other clients, enabling them to quickly re-establish key traffic routes into, within and out of Africa, thereby minimising performance degradation for their end-customers.
According to Chris Wood, Group CEO of WIOCC, “Immediately the four subsea cables were severed off the coast of Cote d‘Ivoire our engineering, operations and field teams swung into action.
“They have been working tirelessly for the last 48 hours with our strategic network partners and equipment suppliers and will, within the next 24 hours, have activated an unprecedented additional 2 Terabits per second (Tbps) of capacity across the unaffected cables in our network to support the capacity needs of other network operators and hyperscalers.
“Our clients connected directly at Open Access Data Centres (OADC) data centres in South Africa and Nigeria are already protected from the impact of the subsea outages due to the unique levels of redundancy and scale of the WIOCC core backbone.
“In Lagos, the Equiano cable, in which WIOCC owns a fibre pair, has not been affected by the incident off Cote d‘Ivoire. WIOCC lands the cable directly into the OADC data centre, establishing the most resilient digital ecosystem hub in Lagos and offering the most direct connectivity to Europe and South Africa.
“As a result, OADC’s data centres and WIOCC’s hyperscale network are playing a key role in restoring services to other facilities and operators currently suffering outages in Lagos and elsewhere on the continent.”
“Our priority is to ensure minimal disruption and maximum resilience for our clients,” added Ryan Sher, Group Chief Operating Officer at WIOCC.
“We have invested heavily in deploying diverse, highly-scalable national and international connectivity to support the uptime requirements of our wholesale client base. Investing at scale means that we consistently carry extra capacity, ensuring we are able to rapidly turn up or re-route capacity to address unexpected network disruptions.
“It also enables us to deploy short-term restoration solutions for other operators on a case-by-case basis. Any service provider affected by these outages, whether an existing WIOCC client or not, is encouraged to contact us to explore options.”
WIOCC’s policy of strategic deployment of converged, open-access digital infrastructure at a hyperscale level and delivery of unrivalled resiliency, enables it to meet and anticipate the needs of Africa’s wholesale community with sufficient scale and network diversity to address even the most challenging situations.
Telecom
Voice, Data Services Affected by Undersea Cable Cuts Restored – NCC
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced that the recent Undersea Cable Cuts that affected Voice, Data Services have now been restored.
The commission in a statement released on Monday and signed by Reuben Muoka, Director, Public Affairs, said that services have now been restored to approximately 90% of their peak utilization capacities.
According to him, “following the disruption on March 14, 2024, which affected data and voice services due to cuts in undersea fibre optics along the coasts of Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, we are pleased to announce that services have now been restored to approximately 90% of their peak utilization capacities.
“All operators who were impacted by the cuts have taken recovery capacity from submarine cables which were not impacted by the cuts, and have thus recovered approximately 90% of their peak utilisation capacities.
“Mobile Network Operators have assured the Commission that data and voice services would operate optimally pending full repairs of the undersea cables as they have managed to activate alternative connectivities to bring back the situation to normalcy.
“We extend our appreciation to telecom consumers for their patience and understanding during the downtime caused by the undersea fibre cuts,” he concluded.
Telecom
IIM United Kingdom Inducts new Members, Highlights the Power of Intelligent Technologies
Institute of Information Management (IIM) United Kingdom successfully hosted its highly anticipated Annual Convention and 47th Induction/Investiture ceremony on March 9, 2024, at the Wesley London Euston.
The event, held under the theme “AI Renaissance: Unleashing the Power of Intelligent Technologies,” brought together distinguished professionals, thought leaders, and industry experts from various sectors.
The convention commenced with a thought-provoking Welcome Address and Keynote Speech delivered by Amb. (Dr) Oyedokun Ayodeji Oyewole FIIM, ERMS, RMEMS, FIRMS, the esteemed international President of the Institute of Information Management (IIM) Africa. His address set the tone for insightful discussions and collaborative engagements throughout the event.
Among the notable highlights was the Inauguration and Taking of Oath of Office by Acting Vice President of IIM United Kingdom Chapter, Prof. Rotimi Jaiyesimi, FIIM, who assumed the role in an acting capacity following his recent appointment by the IIM Africa Board.
A significant announcement was made during the convention regarding the launch of a single global annual Convention starting in 2025.
“This groundbreaking initiative”, according to Dr. Oyedokun Oyewole, president/chairman-Governing Council, Institute of Information Management (IIM) Africa, “will unite all IIM Africa Global Chapters for the Convention, induction, and investiture, streamlining the event into a singular, impactful gathering. The announcement, made by Aisha Dania Ogieriakhi, FIIM, Director of IIM United Kingdom Chapter, marks a new era of collaboration and cohesion within the IIM community”.
The convention attracted a diverse array of attendees, including dignitaries, traditional rulers, captains of industry, and professionals from various backgrounds. Notable guests included Chief Bimbo Roberts Folayan, FIIM – Former Chairman (2011-2015) Central Association of Nigeria in the United Kingdom (CANUK), Cllr. Sunny Lambe, FIIM – Southwark Labour and Cooperative Councilor, Michaelene Holder-March, FIIM – Managing Director of MHM Health Consultancy Ltd, His Highness Papa Paul Jones Eganda, FIIM – Founder and the President of AIDO Network International, Chief (Dr) Richmond Macgrey, FIIM – Representative & Public Relations Minister of His Royal Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse III, (Olu of Warri) in the Diaspora and others.
Throughout the event, discussions revolved around key themes such as the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, the ethical implications of intelligent technologies, and the role of information management in shaping the future.
A highlight of the convention was the induction of new members into the Honorary Fellowship Grade and Professional Fellowship Grade, recognizing their exemplary contributions to the field of data and information management. Additionally, the collaboration between IIM and the International University of Information Management (IUIM) resulted in the conferment of Honorary Doctorate Degree Awards to deserving professionals and achievers in society, adding a prestigious dimension to the event.
Both sessions were anchored by the duo of Antoinette R. Okoye and Olufemi Ibiwoye, a fixed specialist at BT Enterprises PLC London, England, United Kingdom.
One memorable moment came from Julliet Makhapila, a Community Transformer, Changemaker, Innovator, and Social Impactor from the United Kingdom, who volunteered to extend the IIM Africa initiative to her home country of Kenya, further expanding the institute’s reach and impact.
The convention provided ample networking opportunities and special activities for attendees, fostering meaningful connections and collaborations among participants.
Co-hosted by IIM Africa and the International University of Information Management (IUIM), the 2024 Annual Convention epitomized the mission and goals of the Institute of Information Management, serving as a platform for knowledge sharing, professional development, data leadership development and overall community building leveraging on access to quality data for effective decision making in both public and private establishments.
As the convention concluded, the main takeaways included maintaining a vibrant community of professionals, sharing best practices, and nurturing collaborative efforts to advance the field of data and information management.
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