telecommunications — english language news service
19.05.2008« [telecommunications — телекоммуникация — telekommunikation]
nigeria — fraud uncovered at nitel
A fraud running into billions of naira has been uncovered at beleagured incumbent telco Nigerian Telecoms (NITEL) by accountants working at Transcorp, which owns 51% of the operator, reports local daily This Day. The bean-counters are said to have stumbled across loopholes through which billions of naira (NGN1 billion = USD8.68 million) have been siphoned out of NITEL, which has in recent times been embroiled in one controversy after another. The leaks involve several organisations and government agencies using NITEL services without paying, or paying a token to ‘faceless’ people instead of to the firm. An officer of Transcorp said that all disbursements to NITEL have been suspended until the issues are resolved, adding that the accountants had been given 30 days to come up with a plan to solve the problem.
Source: TeleGeography's CommsUpdate
nitel
Nigerian Telecommunications Limited, or NITEL, is the principal telecommunications company in Nigeria, and was owned by the government of Nigeria until it was sold to Transcorp by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). The mobile telecommunications arm of Nitel, M-tel, was also sold to Transcorp at that time. Nitel is responsible for all wired telecommunications in Nigeria.
transcorp
Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (TransCorp) is a Nigeria-based company engaged in five sectors: energy (oil and gas, and power), technology (information and communication technology), agro-business (processing and semi processing), hospitality (tourism, entertainment and leisure) and trade (international trade, free trade zone, logistics, shipping and maritime). TransCorps subsidiaries include NIRMSCO Properties Limited (51% owned), TransCorp Telecoms Limited (51% owned) and TransCorp Trading & Logistics Services Limited (100% owned). NIRMSCO Properties Limited owns 51% of TransCorp Hilton Hotel. TransCorp Telecoms owns 51% of NITEL/MTEL (with an option to acquire an additional 24% interest).
See also:
