Ex-Celtel DMD is new CEO of Etisalat Nigeria
Boye Olusanya, former deputy managing director of Celtel Nigeria (now Airtel Nigeria), will be the chief executive officer of Etisalat Nigeria during the transition period, TheCable understands.
Matthew Willsher stepped down as CEO on Monday, along with the chief financial officer, Olawole Obasunloye.
A deputy governor of the central bank, Joseph Nnana, will be the chairman of the board, taking over from Keem Belo-Osagie, who resigned as part of the agreement reached for a seamless transition.
Olusanya was a member of the pioneer team of Airtel in 2001 and lived through the various boardroom crises — a factor said to have contributed to his choice to manage the Etisalat affair.
Airtel started out in 2001 as Econet, transiting to Vodacom briefly before changing to VMobile, Zain and Celtel.
Olusanya holds a BSc in civil engineering and MSc in environmental civil engineering from Liverpool University and another MSc in computer science from Manchester University.
Another member of the transition team is Seyi Bickersteth, the national senior partner and CEO of KPMG Professional Services Limited.
Sources told TheCable that a statement would be issued on Tuesday to announce the new arrangement.
The telcom, with 21 million subscribers, owes the banks N541 billion, leading to a take-over attempt.
Mubadala Group, the major investor from the United Arab Emirates, has pulled out of Nigeria’s fourth largest mobile operator.
The transition agreement was brokered with the banks by the CBN and NCC.
NCC has warned the creditors that the licence awarded to Etisalat Nigeria is not transferable, effectively stopping the banks from taking ownership of the company.
I suggest the EFCC investigate the 541,Billion debt to find the actual reason why there is such a huge debt accrual.
I strongly believe there is something not so clear about that figure.
I am an Airtel subscriber and I honestly won’t feel comfortable seeing airtel network repurchased for the 6th time. I mean its sliding to s shameful point.
I personally conducted opinion polls within the periods airtel was sold the second and fourth time and peoples responses summarized that the network lost so much customers, whose trust had been lost completely. They say its unstable.
So please Let’s buckle up and avoid having airtel being resold