Senate intervenes in $1.2 Billion debt crisis rocking Etisalat Nigeria

Nigerian Senate has resolved to intervene in the $1.2b debt crisis rocking Etisalat Nigeria and urged relevant financial agencies of the Federal Government to investigate the management of Etisalat and all defaulting parties.

Senator Adeola Olamilekan of Lagos West who moved the motion at the senate plenary, observed that Etisalat Nigerian has in recent times been in the public eye over its $1.2b loan crises.

The lawmaker said that the seven-year syndicated loan was acquired in 2013 from a consortium of 13 banks in Nigeria as a mid-term facility to fund the expansion of the company’s network regretting that about 4000 jobs are at stake and that a loan of such magnitude could set off another banking crisis in Nigeria.

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Lawmakers, who lend their voices to the motion, said the motion should be passed urgently to prevent further job loss, asking for a complete overhaul of the corporate business environment in Nigeria in order to check the excesses of foreign investors.

However, the Senate mandated its Committee on Banking, Communications, Capital Market and National Security to investigate the management and utilisation of the loan facility and make recommendations to prevent similar occurrences in the future.