[FLASHBACK] List of failed winning bids for Nitel/Mtel since 2001

The Nigerian Telecommunications Ltd (NITEL) and its mobile subsidiary, Mobile Telecommunications Ltd (MTEL) changed ownership yesterday as the Federal Government formally handed it over to the new core investor NATCOM Consortium Development and Investment Ltd.

This followed a successful conclusion of a guided liquidation transaction by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) under the supervision of the National Council of Privatization (NCP) headed by the Vice President, Architect Namadi Sambo on December 3, 2014 where NATCOM emerged as the winner by offering $252.25million for the assets. Meanwhile, over $1billion dollars is required to revive NITEL and MTEL.

This is not the first time where a winner has been selected for the purchase or management of Nitel since 2001 and each has failed. Here is a list of past failed bidders Nitel sale/deals.

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1. Strategic core investor sale of 51 percent shareholding of NITEL to Investors International London Ltd (IILL) in 2001
2. The failed Management Contract by Pentascope in 2005,
3. The aborted Orascom Telecoms bid in 2005,
4. The strategic core investor sale, through negotiated sale strategy to Transcorp, cancelled in 2009
5. The strategic core investor sale in 2011 where New Generation Communications Ltd and Omen International Ltd emerged as preferred and reserved bidders respectively.

Parts of this article originally appeared in the Guardian Newspaper