Buhari to probe Jonathan’s sale of NITEL/MTEL

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered
investigation into the sale of Nigerian
Telecommunications, NITEL, and Mobile
Telecommunications, MTEL, under the
administration of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan.
The telecom company was sold for $252m to
NATCOM consortium in December 2014.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of
Communication and Technology, told State House
Correspondents on Tuesday after briefing the
President Buhari that the president had directed
him to raise a memo on the whole transaction to
ascertain if there were any underhand dealings.
The official also disclosed that President Buhari
expressed worry over the quality of service
rendered by the telecom operators in Nigeria.
He said: “The President was concerned about the
liquidation of NITEL. He is not opposed to its
privatization but he wants to know and he want us
to bring a memo on how the whole transaction
was undertaken so that he would know whether
Nigeria was shortchanged.
“The President was concerned by the quality of
service of telecom operators. The President is very
concerned about the whole issue of privatization
that is hindering the investments in ICT
infrastructure, and he will personally champion
this. The President talked about the potentials of
the ICT sector in generating employment.”