The property was one of those listed for sale by the
Liquidator of NITEL/MTEL non-core assets at the cost of N2.5 billion only.
Meanwhile, the property is presently encumbered by the
activities of illegal occupants and the Lagos State Government (LASG)has
promised a harmless takeover of the property.
The Council chaired by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi
Osinbajo (SAN), granted the approval at its second meeting for 2023 held on
Tuesday, February 21, 2023.
It would be recalled that NITEL was incorporated in 1984 but
formally commenced operations in 1985 and was jointly owned by the Federal
Government of Nigeria (FGN) with a 93.3% share and First Bank of Nigeria Plc
(FBN) with 6.7%.
However, MTEL was established in 1996 out of NITEL to
provide cellular services. It started a General System for Mobile communication
(GSM) in March 2003 after NITEL transferred its GSM licence it acquired when
the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) first auctioned Digital Mobile
Licences in February 2001.
The National Council on Privatisation (NCP), at its meeting
on February 27, 2012, approved the privatisation of Nigerian Telecommunications
Plc (NITEL) and Nigerian Mobile Telecommunication (MTEL) through “guided
liquidation”.
The strategy was adopted by the Council after due
consideration of other options and considering the previous failed attempts to
privatise NITEL and MTEL through Strategic Core Investor Sales and Negotiated
Sale strategies and the huge liabilities to creditors to the tune of over N300
billion.
Under the guided liquidation strategy, all the core assets
and business undertakings of NITEL and MTEL were to be sold as single or
multiple lots to a qualified bidder by the Liquidator under the general
guidance of the National Council on Privatisation.