By Osagie Alonge
The on-going dispute between multi-channel digital satellite TV service, HiTV and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc. doesn’t look like it’s ending soon with reports saying that the latter announced the appointment of a receiver/manager for the company allegedly due to the TV service’s inability to repay a N9.228B loan facility.
According to reports, GTB says it has appointed legal practitioner Ajibola A. Aribisala (SAN) as receiver/manager over the entire undertakings, stock, goodwill, plant and machinery, floating and fixed assets, movable and unmovable inclusive of money and assets kept in any bank in Nigeria and or/all assets belonging to HI Media Limited, the operator HiTV. Sources say the appointment was made on Thursday, November 24, 2011.
We’re told the Ikeja Federal High Court through Justice S.J Adah had earlier granted the request made by the bank on November 11, 2011. And in order for the ruling to be carried out, all HiTV offices were locked up by officers of the Nigerian Police Force.
A rep for the bank promised to feel us on more information as soon as he got clearance to do so.
Meanwhile, the management of HiTV have come out to say that the locking up of their offices by the GTBank was a total breach of the rights of HiTV as there is a pending case in court on the same issue.
In a press statement released on Thursday, November 24, HiTV’s Public Relations Manager, Justin Akpovi-Esade, stated that there is ‘a pending case in court on the same issue’ but that the bank still went ahead ‘to secure an order from another court which they relied on to invade HiTV premises across Lagos’.
‘HiTV will handle the issue legally and that is why it is calling on subscribers, agencies, and trade and platform partners to be calm and patient while the issue is being tackled. HiTV thanks all for the continuous patronage of the proudly Nigerian Pay TV’, Akpovi-Esade said.
In 2007, HiTV (which is owned by Toyin Subair), the first television platform in Africa to deploy Hyper cable, a terrestrial pay per view TV decoder system was launched. GTBank is said to have become a shareholder of the media company and reportedly financed a significant part of HiTV’s business activities. The company flourished as thousands of Nigerians subscribed to the cable TV.
But stories of the company facing hard times came up in July 2010 when it lost the licence to broadcast the English Premier League for the current European football season, to major rival DSTv. DSTV works in collaboration with Multichoice South Africa.
4 comments
There collatera aint there 4 notfin!
pls. Gtv dont kill tiwa n tiwa telly, i hope hitv will be back greatly.
GT bank as I know being good at customer service should just not shut dem down but come into agreement to run Hitv so as to get their pay back. Sorry o, I might be wrong.
Pls, Gtbank allow hitv to work, this is the only satellite cable that we have in Nigeria. By God gracy they we paid back the money. Close down the office, or sale out the office will not solve the problem of N9b. And all the they are workers will still go back to labour makert. Luck in to my comment and do your best. Gtbank will not fall o (amin).