Former deputy managing director of Celtel Nigeria (now Airtel Nigeria), Boye Odusanya, will be the chief executive officer of Etisalat Nigeria during the transition period, according to TheCable report.
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.
Matthew Willsher, who resigned as CEO of Etisalat Nigeria on Monday, will stay on as special adviser to the new man, Boye Olusanya.
This is part of the “seamless transition” arrangement brokered by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to keep the mobile network on the path to management stability.
Meanwhile, the NCC, in a statement issued on Tuesday morning, has announced that Etisalat and its creditors “have successfully reached an amicable resolution of key issues pertaining to its indebtedness”, and that “a smooth transitional process is currently ongoing on mutually agreed terms”.
Willsher, whose contract as CEO was to expire in December 2017, will still enjoy all his benefits and help with a smooth transition process before exiting the company, insiders informed TheCable.
All the agreements reached at a meeting on Thursday involving the CBN, NCC, creditors and the Etisalat management have now been implemented.
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.
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.
* TheCable