Airtel Appeals Against Return Of Equity To Econet

Airtel Nigeria, said it had appealed against a Federal High Court’s judgment which ordered it to return five per cent of its equity to Econet Wireless Service.

The decision was contained in a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by Airtel’s Public Relations Manager, Mr Emmanuel Otokhine.

“The company (Airtel) abides by and has full confidence in the law of the land and believes the Appeal Court will determine the case on its merit.

“In addition, the judgment will have no impact on the equity holding of other shareholders in Airtel Nigeria.

“We wish to assure our customers, employees and business partners that the judgment will not in no way affect operations or the company’s ability to fulfill obligations to its stakeholders,” it said.

The Federal High Court had on January 24 given Econet Wireless the right to own a five per cent stake in Airtel Nigeria.

The court had declared null and void all actions and resolutions taken by Airtel Nigeria since October 2003 in which Econet Wireless should have had a say as a shareholder, but was prevented from doing so.

These include decisions to sell shares and transfer shares to third parties.

The court also said that the change of name from Econet Wireless Nigeria in 2003 was irregular and must be reversed.