President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the sale of Nigeria Telecommunications Company (NITEL).
He gave the directive while receiving briefing from officials of the federal Ministry of Communications Technology led by its Permanent Secretary, Dr. Tunji Olaopa.
Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Olaopa said President Buhari who was not opposed to the sale of the national communication firm, wanted to ensure that the country was not shortchanged in the process.
Accordingly, he said the President has directed him to detail the transaction in a memo and forward that to his office.
He stressed that Buhari was deeply concerned about the transaction.
He said: “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 that he will personally champion this.
“The President talked about the potentials of the ICT sector in generating employment.
“The President was concerned about the liquidation of NITEL. He is not opposed to its privatization but he wants to know and he wants us to bring a memo on how the whole transaction was undertaken so that he would know whether Nigeria was shortchanged.”
The administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan sold the telecom company to NATCOM consortium for $252million in December 2014.
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