The management of Etisalat Nigeria has denied that they are
being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),
following a petition to “the Federal Government asking that Etisalat be
investigated” on how the funds from the syndicated loans were utilized, reports
ITRealms.
The Vice President, Regulatory & Corporate Affairs, Etisalat
Nigeria, Mr. Ibrahim Dikko told ITRealms
that a simple interrogation of the rigorous process for securing a syndicated
loan from a consortium of reputable banks would have exposed the truth to the
original writer of this story and other media channels who have subsequently
re-circulated the falsehood without interrogation or verification.
Concerned parties have access to Etisalat books and do not
require an investigation into how the loan sum was utilized.
“All of the infrastructure investment and services for which
the loan was secured, were paid through our banks and these are verifiable,” he
said.
Dikko stressed the need for the media to correctly inform
the general public by providing the needful macro-economic context around which
the challenges encountered with meeting up with the loan obligation occurred.
“It would be recalled that the $1.2bn loan, a medium-term
seven-year facility, was obtained by Etisalat Nigeria for the purpose of
expanding its network and improving the quality of service on its network. The
economic downturn of 2015 and sharp devaluations of the naira negatively
impacted on the dollar-denominated loan by driving up the loan value, thus
prompting Etisalat to request a loan restructuring from the consortium of
banks,” he explained.
This, he said was contrary to the widely reported
misrepresentations about Etisalat Nigeria’s debt obligation to the consortium
of 13 banks, thus, it has become pertinent to set the records straight.
Dikko also said that prior to this time, Etisalat had in
fact consistently and conscientiously met up with its payment obligations.
“As at today, we can categorically state that the
outstanding loan sum to the consortium stands at $227m and N113bn, a total of
about $574m if the naira portion is converted to US Dollars,” he said.
Emphasising that this in essence meant almost half of the
original loan of $1.2bn, has been repaid, insisting that Etisalat continued to
service the loan up until February 2017, when discussions with the banks
regarding the repayment restructuring commenced.
“We hereby appeal to our media partners to continue to
uphold the ethics of the profession by exercising some restraint particularly
in the publication of such misleading and damaging information. We have been
accessible and remain available to the media to clarify or verify information
when required,” Dikko assured.
Nonye Dom/GEE
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