A seven-month-old baby Abubakar Muhammad Jiddah on Thursday made history as the first subscriber of 20 MTN shares in Sokoto State while another baby Hamida Sulaiman who is one year old also purchased a tranche of 20 shares making her the second baby to hold a share in the telecoms company from the state and its environs.
Abubarkar’s mother Sadiya Sani Garba and Hamida’s mother Hafsat Abdulrasaq braved all odds to attend the Sokoto event, indicating interest in becoming shareholders in Nigeria’s largest telecoms company.
Addressing potential investors in Sokoto, Olutokun Toriola, chief executive officer, MTN Nigeria, urged people from the region to embrace this opportunity which Modupe Kadri, Chief Financial Officer, MTN Nigeria described as democratized participation in share sales.
Bashir Gidado, commissioner for commerce and industry and a former employee of MTN Nigeria, urged participants to go to their villages, churches and mosques and tell their people to invest in MTN expressing happiness that MTN chose Sokoto state as the first port of call after launching the scheme in Abuja.
The occasion was graced by representatives of the Emirate, members of Kebbi and Sokoto chamber of commerce and other stakeholders within and outside Sokoto state.
MTN, which earlier announced the sell-down of 575 million shares in MTN Nigeria to shore up local content in its shareholding, says that the public offer is to make the company truly Nigerian and urged every Nigerian to take advantage of the opportunity to own a bit of the company.
A nationwide roadshow to engage Nigerians kicked off in Abuja on Wednesday, December 1 and is intended to maximise participation by Nigerians to own a share of one of the most capitalized companies on Nigerian Exchange Limited.
The roadshow gained traction in Sokoto state where the team went from Abuja on Thursday to offer northern investors the opportunity to own a share of MTN.
With an estimated subscriber base of 69 million people in Nigeria, MTN which listed on the Nigerian Stock exchange two years ago says the shares opportunity is open to everyone and its subscription will be technologically processed.
The offer, which opened at 8:00 am on December 1, 2021, is expected to close at 5:00 pm on December 14, 2021 with a minimum subscription of 20 shares and lots of 20 shares thereafter. Subscribers are also offered one free share for every 20 shares they buy.
However, the free share has a maximum cap of 250 free shares when 5,000 shares are bought with the condition that the buyer holds the shares for 12 months after they are bought.
