9mobile has lodged an appeal against the Abuja Federal High Court’s decision to nullify the sale of the Nigerian operator to Teleology.
Teleology acquired 9mobile in October last year, but Justice Binta Nyako ruled that any activity related to the sale taking place after 25th April 2018 was void, on the grounds that all involved parties had been instructed not to progress with the acquisition prior to the resolution of a lawsuit filed by two stakeholders.
Afdin Ventures and Dirbia Nigeria took legal action to demand the return of their combined $43 million investment, claiming that they were not privy to the decisions that led to the proposed sale of 9mobile. According to the judge, there is evidence that the relevant parties knew of this lawsuit but opted to continue with the sale.
However, 9mobile has decried the ruling, with the operator’s legal adviser Ore Olajide dismissing the reports as “incorrect, misleading, mischievous and a total falsehood. The sale of 9mobile to Teleology Nigeria Limited has not been nullified. The court made an order to maintain status quo as at April 25, 2018 when EMTS (Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services) was not a party to the suit and we have appealed the ruling as well as sought an injunction pending appeal at the Court of Appeal”.