- by Masivuye Mzimkhulu
- on 9 Jul, 2025
High Stakes Battle Over 9mobile Shares Heads for Court Ruling
The Federal High Court in Abuja is at the center of a complex legal fight over the true owner of 43 million shares in 9mobile, one of Nigeria's biggest telecom companies. This showdown, which pits investors, regulatory agencies, and powerful business players against each other, has everyone in the country’s business circles paying close attention.
At the heart of the matter is businessman Abubakar Ismaila Isa. He insists that shares originally owned by Seltrix Limited on his behalf were secretly moved into the hands of Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited (EMTS), the parent operator of 9mobile. Isa says the transfer happened without his approval and that the shares ended up as collateral for a big loan deal between majority shareholder Teleology Nigeria Limited and the African Export-Import Bank, known as Afrexim. If Isa is right, he’s been sidelined from a shareholding worth millions.
Isa didn’t just complain about business betrayal—he brought in the big legal guns. Senior Advocate of Nigeria Femi Atteh is leading the charge, claiming not only a violation of trust but also a direct breach of Seltrix Limited’s rules, especially Clause 48 in the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association. Isa wants the court to declare him the rightful owner and cancel the transfer. For anyone who’s followed messy telecom privatization sagas in Nigeria, this one is right up there.
The legal web keeps getting more tangled. The claim lists nine different defendants, stretching from Seltrix Limited and Teleology Nigeria Limited to business heavyweight Hayatu Hassan Hadeija and regulators like the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). When business and regulation mix, it rarely ends in a handshake.
Regulators, Bank Involvement, and New Contenders
Things really heated up when the CAC and NCC—two key regulatory agencies—were accused of greenlighting a shakeup that transferred control to a new contender: LH Telecommunication Limited. This company, quietly linked to General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, one of Nigeria’s most influential former military leaders, found itself part of a story straight from a corporate thriller.
But there’s more. Keystone Bank entered the fray, asking the court to let it join the suit. The bank wants to challenge a resolution it claims unfairly cut Teleology’s stake in EMTS, raising questions about how these share movements were pushed through and whether standard rules were bent or broken. All of this suggests the case isn’t just about pieces of paper—it’s about competing interests trying to control a telecom giant at a time when market power means a lot.
Justice Mohammed Umar, presiding over the high-profile matter, has heard closing arguments from all sides. He’s reserved his judgment, so there’s no quick fix or behind-closed-door settlement here. The court’s decision—now officially scheduled for September 24, 2025—could ripple beyond the parties involved, potentially changing how Nigerian business trusts, banking, and telecom regulation interact on a national scale.
So, what’s at stake? It’s more than just 43 million disputed shares. It’s about trust, power, and who really controls a key player in Nigeria’s communications space. Stay tuned—business showdowns like these are rarely dull, and the implications could echo for years.