NCC affirms N50b MTN payment as ‘good faith’ deposit towards N780bn fine

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has affirmed the Federal Governments receipt of N50 billion from MTN Nigeria and the withdrawal of its suit against the regulator at the Federal High Court in Lagos as a good faith deposit towards settlement of the fine imposed on the telecoms giant.

In a statement released on Monday 29 February, NCC said “the amount is an unconditional good faith payment, on the basis that this sum would be applied towards eventual settlement agreement for payment of the fine imposed by the commission, where the ongoing negotiations between the Federal Government and the company reach a final resolution.”

BusinessDay gathered from sources close to the NCC that the N50 billion payments is not a final closure to the N780 billion fine issued by the NCC but was only a condition given by the government for the company to fulfill before out of court negotiations will be considered.

“The fine has not been paid. The federal government told MTN to pay a substantial amount of money and withdraw the case from court before out of court negotiations can be done. They have just fulfilled those conditions so the NCC will now be prepared to sit and talk with them about the way forward and what next will happen,” our source said.

This has been confirmed in NCC’s statement signed by Tony Ojobo, Director for public affairs , which said that MTN, having fulfilled conditions given to it, the government was now ready for negotiations with a team being led by Abubakar Malami, (SAN), the Attorney General of the Federation and MTN negation team is led by Eric H. Holder, former U.S Attorney General, and Head of Covington and Burling LLP, Washington DC.

It should be recalled that a few weeks ago, Adebayo Shittu, the Minister of Communications said at a press briefing in Lagos that MTN’s proposed out of court settlement with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will not be possible if a substantial amount of the N780 billion ($3.09b) fine is not paid first.

Speaking about the withdrawal of the court case and the N50 billion payment, Ferdi Moolman, Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria 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.”

MTN Nigeria said last week that it took these steps “towards a negotiated settlement and to create a conducive atmosphere for further negotiations in response to a request by the authorities.”

Funso Aina, Public Relations Manager at MTN Nigeria told BusinessDay that the negotiations between the NCC and MTN Nigeria are ongoing.

However, NCC was clear to state that the receipt of the amount and withdrawal of the suit is without prejudice to the final decision of government on the terms of payment being proposed by the company.

 The commission said the Federal Government’s team is expected to deliberate on the merits and demerits of the terms of payment of the fine imposed on MTN by the commission for its failure to deactivate 5.1 million improperly registered lines within the prescribed deadline, thereby contravening the provisions of the regulation on SIM card registration.