MTN has reportedly withdrawn its suit against the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and lodged a payment of 50 billion Naira ($250 million) towards an out- of-court resolution of the fine imposed on the telecom giant.
MTN finally withdrew the case at the Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday in response to a request by the Nigerian authorities.
According to Ferdi Moolman, MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer: “This is a most encouraging development. It demonstrates a willingness and sincerity by both parties to work together towards a positive outcome.” MTN paid N50 billion to the Federal Government “as a gesture of good faith and commitment to continued efforts towards an amicable resolution,” according to the telecom company.
He further said: “We are hopeful at this stage. Along with the authorities, it is clear that we are collectively committed to working towards a solution that is of mutual benefit to all parties. Our industry in Nigeria is an incredibly important example of the remarkable progress in ICT, particularly as a much needed catalyst for socio-economic growth and development at this time.”
Meanwhile, The Nigerian government has denied any knowledge of payment of $250 million made by MTN over its N1.04 trillion fine imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications commission (NCC).
According to Mr. Victor Oluwadamilare , Special Assistant to the Minister of Communications, , who stated this in an interview with Vanguard Newspapers, said that the development had not been made official as the development was still under federal government’s study.
‘‘That has not been confirmed and I can confirm to you that the situation is still being studied. To the best of my knowledge, the amount announced is not the fine they are expected to pay. Federal Government is still studying it. They decided to go to court and never wanted an amicable settlement. If they now want settlement, there has to be an official statement on that soon,’’ he said.
MTN Nigeria, the Nigerian telecom operator, was on Wednesday reported to have caved to the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) demands by paying the sum of $250 million as part of the N1.04 trillion fine imposed on it by industry regulator.
Our investigation showed that the payment was made to pave way for possible settlement out of court with the NCC after all its effort to stop the payment failed.
Recall that the NCC had in October 2015, slammed a fine of N1.04 trillion on MTN for its failure to deactivate over 500,000 unregistered subscribers after series of warning had were issued by the regulator to terminate them.
The company was originally given a fine of $5.2 billion in October, 2015, and after weeks of lobbying by the telecom company, the fine was reduced by 25 percent ($3.9 billion).
MTN Group initially headed to court to challenge the legality of NCC to impose such a huge fine on the company. They also hired former U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder, to help them challenge the propriety of the fine. The former U.S. attorney general was said to have pleaded unsuccessfully with Nigerian officials last month on behalf of the telecoms company.
The presiding judge, after hearing the case in January gave the two parties a two month grace to settle the dispute out of court.
A judge in Lagos also had last month gave both parties until March 18 to reach a settlement, after MTN had asked the court to arbitrate over the dispute, saying the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had no legal grounds to order the fine.
MTN was reported to have resolved to withdraw its court challenge in an effort to reach an amicable resolution and make a payment of $250 million towards a possible settlement.
