9mobile Debunks Claims of N55bn Debt to Keystone Bank

9mobile Debunks Claims of N55bn Debt to Keystone Bank

The management of 9mobile has denied any involvement with a recent viral report over a purported court order asking the telco to pay a N55bn debt to Keystone Bank.

The firm said the report was both false and defamatory as the case was between the bank and Teleology Nigeria Limited.

It noted that no judgement was made against the firm and the attempt to link it with a transaction by its minority shareholder, Teleology Nigeria Limited in a legal tussle with Keystone Bank, was maliciously misleading.

The firm made its reaction in a statement released to the media at the weekend in Lagos.

The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to a wave of syndicated media publications dated Friday 19, July 2024 with the same copious headline, “Court orders 9mobile to pay N55bn debt to Keystone Bank.”

“The Management of 9mobile wishes to inform the concerned public and critical stakeholders that, contrary to this misleading headline, Emerging Markets Telecommunication Services Limited (EMTS), trading as 9mobile was neither a party to any suit nor affected by the order said to have been made against it as an entity.”

“The said story is not only false but also defamatory in its effect on the 9mobile corporate reputation. If the correspondents who filed the obviously syndicated news stories were anywhere near the court room during the proceedings leading to the issuance of the said order, they would have known that at no point was 9mobile a party to the suit in question. Rather, the action was appropriately classified and filed as, “Keystone Bank v. Teleology Nigeria Limited.”

“For the avoidance of doubt, no judgement was made against 9mobile and the attempt to link our corporate entity with a transaction by our minority shareholder, Teleology Nigeria Limited in its legal tussle with Keystone Bank, is false and maliciously misleading.

“9Mobile is under new ownership with a 95.5 % controlling stake in the business and has not been found liable for the action of its minority shareholder in the suit in question. Our business transformation programme has commenced and we are poised to reclaim our place in the market.”