Transnational Corporation (Transcorp), majority stake owner in Nigerian Telecommunications (Nitel), says it is working to fix accounting problems and revitalize the national carrier in the wake of last week’s announcement that it discovered what it terms “a major fraud” at the company.
Transcorp last week said that a team of its accountants identified loopholes in Nitel’s billing system that resulted in millions of naira of revenue ending up unaccounted for.
Transcorp reaffirmed “its resolve to change the face as they are working out some modalities to ensure the loopholes are blocked and that such occurrences do not repeat itself in the future.”
Transcorp is currently at odds with the government, which holds a 49 percent stake in Nitel, about how to manage the telecom company’s sagging fortunes. Transcorp’s allegations of fraud have called into question Transcorp’s commitment to continue to invest in Nitel.
The National Union of Postal and Telecommunications Employees (NUPTE) had urged the federal government to take over Nitel. NUPTE has said the government must step in in the face of what it called “incapability in managing the crisis in the first national carrier.”
Transcorp officials were not available to answer questions about details concerning the fraud.
In its press release last week, Transcorp said it is still committed to returning Nitel and its Mobile Telecommunications (Mtel) subsidiary to profitability.
A source close to the company reiterated that Transcorp is committed to revitalizing NITEL. The source, who did not want to be quoted in the press, also questioned NUPTE’s stance. “Instead, the union should sanction any of its members involved in the alleged fraud,” said the source.
Transcorp has said that it is working to find another stakeholder for Nitel, but that it would retain most of its current share.
