Former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo is widely believed to have a large stake in Transcorp and it was during his time in power, in August 2006, that Transcorp acquired NITEL.
"The sale of NITEL/MTEL to Transcorp is void, and it is hereby withdrawn, revoked," the head of Bureau of Public Enterprises Christopher Anyanwu told reporters.
Anyanwu said Transcorp had pledged to revamp the underperforming and corruption-ridden Nitel and its mobile arm MTEL but failed in the task.
He said one of the conditions for the sale was that Transcorp should engage a technical operator but British Telecom, initially involved in the deal, opted out four months after it was signed.
Anyanwu said Transcorp also failed to inject necessary funds to solve a cash crunch that has prevented NITEL/MTEL from paying its staff for the past 11 months.
"Government will today set up a technical board to manage the affairs of NITEL/MTEL until a new core investor emerges," Anyanwu said.
The government sold 51% equity stake in NITEL/MTEL to Transcorp for US$500 million after two failed attempts to divest in the ailing company to foreign investors.
Source: AFP
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