Court sacks Etisalat Board

The Federal High Court in Lagos has nullified the appointment of an interim board for Emerging Markets Telecommunications Service, the owners of Etisalat.
Justice Ibrahim Buba made the order on Friday based on an application by Spectrum Wireless Communication Ltd., which was said to have invested $35m in 2009 in EMTS/Etisalat.
The court order nullified the appointment of Dr. Joseph Nnana of the Central Bank of Nigeria as chairman of EMTS; Mr. Boye Olusanya, as Managing Director; and Mrs. Funke Ighodaro, as Chief Financial Officer.
Other members of the board affected by the order were Mr. Seyi Bickersthet and Mr. Ken Igbokwe.
The judge made the order after dismissing a preliminary objection filed by United Capital Trustees Ltd., in response to the application by Spectrum Wireless, a shareholder of EMTS.
The interim board of EMTS, which had the support of the CBN and the Nigerian Communications Commission, had received bids from about five bidders in its intended sale of the company.
The sale was to be concluded by December 31, 2017 but it was recently moved to January 16, 2018.