[img]http://worldcupcsr.files./2009/09/mtn-logo-small.jpg[/img]



Nigeria's Telecommunications Giants, Globacom has headed to court to challenge the title rights of the Nigeria Premier League handed to its rival, MTN few days ago after a bid process in Abuja, the nation's capital.

Apparently miffed by the fact that the team of lawyers brought together to thrash out the bid process by the national sports commission cleared the premier league to ride on with the deal with MTN, Globacom has opted to pursue its claim from a legal standpoint. Globacom filed a suit with No.FHC/L/CS/1565/10 at a Federal High Court in Lagos through its lawyer, Professor Abiodun Adesanya, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

In the suit, Globacom is seeking that the court annuls the four-year deal of the title rights awarded to MTN on the grounds that it never took part from the stage of expression to the last stage of the bid process. The suit also claimed that only two companies – Globacom and Total Promotions Limited participated in the bid process for the NPL title sponsorship.

Globacom also argued that it offered 3 billion naira in the bid process as against between 1.6 billion naira and 2 billion naira being reported.

It is understood that NPL is listed as defendant in the suit while the trio of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the NSC, also referred as the sports ministry and MTN has been joined as co-defendants.

The case will come up for hearing at the federal high court in Lagos on December 31, 2010.

MTN was named as the new title sponsor of the Premier League in Nigeria following its 2.6 billion naira bid.

Globacom was the immediate past title sponsor of the NPL until it pulled out of the deal in December 2009 citing unfavourable circumstances.

But the Premier League has claimed that the Nigerian telecommunications outfit still owes it around N935 million for the last year of a four-year deal that ran out last season.