Both Nigeria Telecommunications (NITEL) and its subsidiary, Mtel, were on Tuesday resold to a Spanish outfit, New Generation Telecommunications Consortium, for $2.5 billion.

That seemed to have finally settled the fiasco of the original sale to Transcorp, which the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) revoked last year.

The new deal came to light in Abuja at the financial bids opening, where five firms slugged it out to get the first national carrier.

During the initial bidding, MTN offered to buy NITEL’s SAT-3 for $25 million, Brymedia Consortium offered $100,000.

New Generation Consortium offered to pay $333,333.33 plus the total liabilities of NITEL, AFZI Telecom Consortium tabled $173,333.33 excluding CDMAs.

Omen International (BVI) offered $350 million, including CDMAs, but without NITEL’s liabilities.

Before the process was halted for the bidders to raise their stakes, Privatisation and Commercialisation Technical Committee Acting Chairman, Taiwo Osipitan, announced that NITEL was being sold without any liability attached.

He urged the bidders to improve on their offers.

On resumption of bidding, MTN stuck to its $25 million offer for SAT-3. But Brymedia jerked up its bid for NITEL to $551 million, Omen International did with $956.998 million, New Generation Consortium put $2.5 billion on the table, and AFZI jerked up its stake to $375 million.

Osipitan declared New Generation Consortium as the preferred bidder, and Omen International the reserved bidder, subject to the approval of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP).

He said Globacom was dropped from the process because it could not meet the requirements.

BPE Director General, Christopher Anyanwu, had earlier charged the investors to ensure that they possess the financial strength to take NITEL to greater heights.

Senate Privatisation Committee Chairman, Sylvester Anyanwu, expressed hope that the sale would improve NITEL and the entire telecommunications sector.

He charged New General Consortium to buckle up for the challenges in NITEL, whose infrastructure must not be allowed to decay.

Last year, the BPE revoked the sale of NITEL to Transcorp, with Anyanwu citing breaches of the sale agreement.

Source: Daily Independent

I read it was a Chinese firm who bought over Nitel,

What i know is that, someone has bought the damn thing.

now u are getting d full story broooooo