The Nigeria Communication Commission on Thursday said the Commission and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will intervene in the Etisalat loan issue.
Director of Public Affairs of NCC, Mr Tony Ojobo said this in a statement issued in Abuja.
“After a meeting on Thursday afternoon in Abuja between the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta and the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele and his team, a decision was reached to intervene in the loan issue between Etisalat Nigeria and a consortium of commercial banks.
“The meeting which was held at the CBN in Abuja was convened by the financial regulator at the instance of NCC and the telecom regulator to further deliberate on how best to stop the attempt by the banks to take over Etisalat.
“At the end of the meeting, the CBN agreed to invite Etisalat management and the banks to a meeting tomorrow, Friday, toward finding an amicable resolution,’’ he said.
Ojobo said that the NCC had quickly reached out to the CBN because it was convinced of the negative impact such takeover move would have on the industry.
He added that NCC was worried about the fate of the over 20 million Etisalat subscribers.
Etisalat was taken over by three banks because of its N541.8 billion debt.
Head of Public Relations, Etisalat Nigeria, Oluseyi Osuntedo had however dismissed reports that banks had taken over the company.
“Discussions are going on; nobody is taking up the company.
“It is not true that we are being picketed, whoever gave the information is not telling the truth,” she said.
