Telecommunications industry sources have alleged that a series of transactions involving Mafab Communications, MTN Nigeria and IHS Towers are part of a broader ownership arrangement that could ultimately make President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a major shareholder in MTN.
The sources, who claimed to be familiar with the transactions, alleged that the latest moves involving Mafab and MTN represent the culmination of a process allegedly designed to create a significant MTN ownership interest for Tinubu.
“This is the final step for Bola Tinubu to become a major shareholder in MTN and it was all orchestrated via Karl Olutokun Toriola,” one of the sources alleged.
Toriola is the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria.
The allegation comes as Mafab Communications, one of Nigeria’s two original 5G spectrum licence winners, is reportedly negotiating the transfer of its spectrum assets to MTN Nigeria.
The proposed transaction covers Mafab’s 100MHz holding in the 3.5GHz band and its 2x20MHz allocation in the 2.1GHz band.
The financial terms of the proposed transaction have not been publicly disclosed, while the transfer requires regulatory approval from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Recent reports indicated that the transaction could be concluded as early as October if regulatory approval is secured.
Mafab emerged alongside MTN as a winner of Nigeria’s 3.5GHz 5G spectrum auction conducted in December 2021.
The NCC officially confirmed in February 2022 that both companies had paid $273.6 million each for their respective 100MHz spectrum blocks. MTN subsequently paid an additional $15.9 million at the assignment stage to obtain its preferred spectrum block.
Mafab later launched its Mcom 5G service in Abuja and Lagos in 2023 but struggled to build a network comparable in size to that of established operators.
The company is now seeking regulatory approval for the transfer of major portions of its spectrum holdings to MTN.
According to reports, Mafab is backed by businessman Musbahu Muhammad Bashir, who chairs the Althani Group. Its 10-year 5G licence, issued in 2022 and due to expire in 2032, has remained relatively underutilised compared with MTN’s deployment.
The proposed transfer has renewed questions over Mafab’s original emergence as one of Nigeria’s two 5G spectrum licence winners and the circumstances surrounding its financing and ownership.
SaharaReporters had previously published allegations linking Mafab to political interests.
In a May 2023 report, the publication alleged that former Communications and Digital Economy Minister Isa Pantami and former President Muhammadu Buhari’s personal secretary, Sabiu “Tunde” Yusuf, were involved in moves to grant spectrum licences to companies allegedly connected to political associates during the final months of the Buhari administration.
That report identified Mafab among companies alleged to have benefited from the process and reported claims linking the company to Tinubu.
The allegations included claims that licences involving the 600MHz spectrum were being granted to companies connected to political figures and associates, while a source within the presidency reportedly alleged that the arrangement included a 50 per cent discount on the licence.
Those claims were disputed by parties involved, while the NCC has previously denied allegations of improper conduct surrounding the award of spectrum licences.
The new telecom sources, however, alleged that the ownership question surrounding Mafab goes beyond its publicly identified promoters.
The sources specifically alleged that Mafab’s original licence acquisition was financed through Alpha Beta Consulting LLP, a company that has for years been associated with public allegations and legal disputes involving Tinubu.
“If you check when they paid for their NCC licence, they had money paid for them from Alpha-Beta Consulting LLP,” a source alleged.
The claim could not be independently verified.
The NCC, however, officially confirmed that Mafab paid $273.6 million for its 100MHz 3.5GHz spectrum licence by the February 24, 2022 deadline.
The allegation concerning Alpha Beta has attracted attention because the company has previously been at the centre of disputes concerning its ownership and alleged relationship with Tinubu.
Former Alpha Beta Managing Director Dapo Apara had alleged that Tinubu concealed his control of the company. The allegations were disputed by Alpha Beta and other parties and subsequently became the subject of litigation before an out-of-court settlement was reached.
The telecom sources are now asking that Mafab’s original licence payment, ownership structure and proposed spectrum transfer be examined together.
They also questioned the extent to which Mafab had deployed the spectrum after obtaining the licence.
“Mafab, if you check when they paid for their NCC licence, they had money paid for them from Alpha-Beta Consulting LLP,” the source repeated.
The second major transaction cited by the sources is MTN Group’s proposed acquisition of IHS Towers.
MTN already owns about 25 per cent of IHS Towers and has agreed to acquire the remaining shares in the tower company in a transaction that would make IHS a wholly owned subsidiary of MTN and result in its delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.
The proposed acquisition represents a significant shift in the telecommunications industry’s traditional sale-and-leaseback model, under which mobile network operators sold telecommunications towers to independent infrastructure companies and subsequently leased capacity on those towers.
MTN’s proposed acquisition would bring the infrastructure back under its direct ownership.
In Nigeria, however, the transaction has attracted regulatory conditions.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has required MTN to sell up to 30 per cent of the Nigerian component of IHS to local Nigerian investors at market prices over time.
MTN has said it is comfortable with the condition.
The Nigerian stake is expected to be substantial in value, with reports estimating the potential 30 per cent interest at between $900 million and $1.1 billion.
The identities of the prospective Nigerian investors have not been publicly disclosed.
It is this aspect of the IHS transaction that the telecom sources alleged could be connected to the broader ownership structure they described.
“They were behind the forced sales for IHS with Idris Alubankudi, Special Adviser to the President on Technology and Digital Economy, and Aminu Maida, the Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission, under the supervising Minister for the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Bosun Tijani,” one source alleged.
“They are pushing for the deal,” the source added.
The allegation refers to the Nigerian government’s regulatory involvement in the MTN-IHS transaction.
The Federal Government had indicated that it would scrutinise the proposed acquisition because of the strategic importance of telecommunications infrastructure to Nigeria’s economy and national connectivity.
The NCC subsequently granted approval-in-principle for MTN’s acquisition of the Nigerian IHS business, subject to regulatory conditions, while the FCCPC separately imposed the local-investor sell-down requirement.
The sources alleged that the identities and ownership interests of the Nigerian investors who eventually acquire the required stake in IHS Nigeria should be closely examined.
They further alleged that the structure could ultimately create an indirect ownership interest for Tinubu in MTN.
“Then now when MTN buys it, Tinubu by default becomes a shareholder,” a source alleged.
There is, however, no independently verified public evidence establishing that Tinubu currently owns shares in MTN through Mafab, IHS Towers or the proposed Nigerian investor structure.
The allegation remains a claim by the unnamed telecom sources and has not been independently substantiated.
If the Mafab transaction is approved, MTN would potentially acquire additional spectrum resources, including Mafab’s 100MHz holding in the 3.5GHz band and its 2x20MHz allocation in the 2.1GHz band.
The IHS acquisition would simultaneously increase MTN’s direct control of telecommunications tower infrastructure in Nigeria, infrastructure that is also used by other operators in the country.
The combination of the two transactions could therefore significantly expand MTN’s control over both spectrum and critical telecommunications infrastructure.
The FCCPC’s requirement that up to 30 per cent of IHS Nigeria be sold to local investors was designed as part of the regulatory conditions attached to the transaction.
The sources alleged that the ownership of those Nigerian interests could become central to understanding the broader transactions involving MTN.
They also urged scrutiny of Mafab’s original licence financing, its ownership structure, the value attached to its spectrum and the proposed transfer of the assets to MTN.
The central allegation by the sources is that what appear to be separate corporate transactions involving Mafab, MTN and IHS are instead components of a coordinated ownership strategy intended to ultimately create a significant MTN stake for Tinubu.
That allegation has not been independently established.
MTN Nigeria spokesperson Funso Aina was contacted for clarification on the reported Mafab transaction but did not answer calls or respond to a text message seeking his comment at the time of publication.
Mafab Communications and the other individuals named in the allegations were also not quoted as confirming the claims contained in the report.