BEVERLY HILLS, April 04, (THEWILL) – 9mobile, formerly Etisalat, could be in for another round of crisis as a federal judge Thursday nullified the sale to Teleology Nigeria Limited in 2018.
Justice Binta Nyako, in a ruling, voided all steps taken in relation to the exchange of ownership of Etisalat despite pending orders for the maintenance of status quo.
Justice Nyako, who noted that parties were all aware of the existence of the suit, the defendants having been served between April 24 and 27, 2018 with the originating process, faulted the sale, as claimed by the plaintiffs in a motion filed on November 16, 2018.
“Any action that has been taken concerning the rest of this litigation from the 25th day of April, which is earlier in time, should revert to the position, as of the res, to its 25th day of April 2018,” Justice Binta ordered in Abuja.
The ruling, given on April 1, 2019 (a copy of which was sighted on Thursday) was in a suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/288/2018 filed on April 6, 2018 by two major investors in Etisalat, Afdin Ventures Limited and Dirbia Nigeria Limited.
Afdin and Dirbia, whose investments in Etisalat is estimated at $43,033,950, had sued to retrieve their investments on the grounds that they were aggrieved, having been excluded from the decision making process of the company.
Defendants in the suit are: Karington Telecommunication Ltd, Premium Telecommunications Holdings NV, First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Central Bank of Nigeria, Etisalat International Nigeria Ltd and Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC).
