Questions are being raised over the proposed transfer of MAFAB Communications’ spectrum assets to MTN Nigeria, with telecommunications industry sources demanding full disclosure of the financial terms, valuation and circumstances surrounding the proposed transaction before regulatory approval is granted.
MAFAB Communications and MTN Nigeria emerged as winners of the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) December 2021 auction of the 3.5GHz spectrum, with both companies paying $273.6 million for their respective 100MHz allocations.
MAFAB was allocated the 3700–3800MHz block.
Media reports in September 2026 indicated that MTN was in discussions to acquire MAFAB’s spectrum assets, although the transaction would require regulatory approval from the NCC.
THISDAY reported that the discussions had reached an advanced stage, but said neither MTN nor the NCC had responded to enquiries on the matter at the time.
However, telecom industry sources have now called for transparency over the proposed transaction, arguing that Nigerians should know the full value of the deal before regulatory approval is granted, particularly because spectrum is a scarce national resource administered by the NCC.
The sources questioned the current value of MAFAB’s spectrum, the amount MTN intends to pay for the assets and whether all financial considerations connected to the transaction would be made public.
“There must be no room for one valuation to be presented to the regulator or Federal Government while some other consideration, benefit, arrangement or payment exists outside the disclosed transaction,” one of the sources said.
The source further alleged that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola, Special Adviser to the President on Technology and Digital Economy Idris Alubankudi Saliu, and NCC Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Aminu Maida could be involved in an arrangement designed to short-change Nigeria through the transaction.
“As Tinubu, Karl, Idris and Maida plan to short change Nigeria on the Mafab deal, if Nigerians thought Emefiele was bad with 9mobile then these guys are something else,” the source alleged.
The source also alleged that the NCC’s spectrum trading framework provides for a 70 percent share to the commission and 30 percent to the spectrum owner, claiming that the proposed arrangement could involve declaring a lower transaction value while allegedly paying other consideration outside the disclosed deal.
“The guideline is that if spectrum trading is done the NCC gets 70% and the owner gets 30%, now the plan orchestrated is for the four horsemen mentioned above is to sit with Mafab and MTN, then agree on a minimum share to pay for the mafab license, so that Nigeria via NCC gets little of the real value, while behind the back the difference will be paid to the four horsemen,” the source alleged.
The allegations come days after ChroniclesReporters reported claims from telecom industry sources that the proposed MAFAB-MTN transaction could be linked to a broader series of transactions involving MTN and IHS Towers.
According to the report, sources alleged that the transactions could ultimately result in President Tinubu acquiring a significant ownership interest in MTN.
One source claimed that the MAFAB transaction represented a final step in an alleged arrangement through which Tinubu could become a major shareholder in MTN, attributing the alleged orchestration to MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola.
The proposed MAFAB transaction reportedly involves the company’s 100MHz holding in the 3.5GHz band as well as its 2x20MHz allocation in the 2.1GHz band.
The financial terms of the proposed transaction have not been publicly disclosed, while the deal remains subject to regulatory approval.
MAFAB, backed by businessman Musbahu Muhammad Bashir, chairman of the Althani Group, launched its Mcom 5G service in Abuja and Lagos in 2023 but has since maintained a limited network footprint.
ChroniclesReporters’ earlier investigation also reported allegations linking MAFAB to Tinubu and claimed that the company’s original licence acquisition was financed through Alpha Beta Consulting LLP, a company that has for years been the subject of public allegations and litigation involving Tinubu.
“If you check when they paid for their NCC licence, they had money paid for them from Alpha-Beta Consulting LLP,” another source alleged.
However, ChroniclesReporters said it could not independently verify the alleged payment trail.
The NCC has officially confirmed that MAFAB paid $273.6 million for its 100MHz 3.5GHz spectrum licence by the February 24, 2022 deadline.
The wider concerns also extend to MTN’s proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of IHS Towers.
MTN Group, which already owns about 25 percent of IHS Towers, has agreed to acquire the remaining shares in the company.
In Nigeria, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) made its approval conditional on MTN selling up to 30 percent of the Nigerian component of IHS Towers to local Nigerian investors at market prices over time.
Telecom industry sources have alleged that the MAFAB and IHS transactions should be examined together, claiming that unidentified Nigerian investors who may eventually acquire the IHS stake could create an ownership structure that would benefit Tinubu.
“Then now when MTN buys it, Tinubu by default becomes a shareholder,” a source alleged.
The sources also alleged that officials involved in the regulatory process surrounding the IHS transaction were pushing for the deal.
“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,” the source alleged.
“They are pushing for the deal.”
The regulatory processes surrounding the transactions, however, have publicly involved the NCC and FCCPC, with the FCCPC imposing the 30 percent local-investor sell-down condition on the Nigerian IHS business.
The telecom sources maintained that the proposed transfer of MAFAB’s spectrum requires scrutiny of the company’s original acquisition cost, the current market valuation of the spectrum and the full consideration MTN would pay for the assets.
They argued that the public should have access to the complete economics of the transaction rather than a regulatory valuation that, they alleged, might not capture the entirety of the consideration involved.
“Nigeria’s spectrum belongs ultimately to the Nigerian public. Its regulation cannot be reduced to private negotiations among a handful of powerful people,” one of the sources said.
When contacted by ChroniclesReporters, MTN spokesperson Funso Aina did not answer calls and had not responded to a text message seeking clarification on the proposed transaction at the time of publication.