Minister of communication, Adebayo Shittu, has said MTN’s out of court settlement with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will not be possible if a substantial amount of the N780 billion ($3.09bn) fine is not paid first.
Speaking at an ICT media parley in Lagos, yesterday, Shittu said: “MTN’s board came to me to plead further that they could not pay. I told them to write another letter of appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari, who graciously allowed the initial reduction of the fine and attach the company’s bank account statements to show that it will collapse if such a huge amount is paid. That was the condition I gave and the next thing, I got a call telling me that MTN had to go to court.
“Thereafter, MTN have come again to seek for out of court settlement and the position of government is to pay a substantial amount of the fine before we can talk of out of court settlement and the money is yet to be paid.”
The NCC had initially issued MTN a fine of N1.04 trillion ($5.2bn), relating to the timing of disconnection of the 5.1 million active MTN subscribers with improperly registered SIM cards calculated at N200, 000 for each subscriber.
Monday, November 16, 2015, was set as the deadline for payment of the fine. However, MTN pleaded for leniency and the deadline date was extended until negotiations had been concluded.
On December 4, 2015, MTN Group corporate affairs issued a release stating that although the NCC had initially sent MTN a letter that it had taken the decision to reduce the fine imposed on the MTN Nigerian business from the original N1,040,000,000,000 to N674 billion, a reduction of 35 percent of the original fine, which had to be paid by December, 31, 2015, a second letter which was stated to supersede the first letter was sent, which informed the company that the fine had actually been reduced by 25 percent to N780 billion and not by 35 percent to N674 billion, as was stated in the first letter. The payment date remained the same.
MTN was also clear to state that, “neither the first letter nor the second setter sets out any details on how the reduction was determined.”
MTN believed that the reduction was insignificant and the N780 billion was still too much for them to pay. Hence, MTN senior executives including the newly appointed acting executive chairman, Phuthuma Nhleko, continued to engage in series of discussions with the NCC further reduce the fine.
A few weeks to the December 31, 2015 deadline, MTN said they were left with no other choice but to go to court to challenge the NCC on its lack of powers to impose such a fine under its establishing laws.
In the statement signed by Amina Oyagbola, MTN’s Human Resources& Corporate Services Executive, the 780 billion Naira fine has potentially dire consequences for the company, its employees, partners, stakeholders as well as the entire Nigerian telecommunications industry. Being a significant contributor in Nigeria, MTN has an obligation to protect the interests of its ecosystem of millions of Nigerians who are directly and indirectly affected by its business operations and continuity.
According to Oyagbola, the decision to seek judicial determination was reached after careful consideration of all factors including extensive attempts at a sustainable resolution.
“It is important to state that seeking judicial determination was a last resort. We hold the Nigerian Government, its national objectives, laws and regulations in the highest regard,” she said.
Talking about what MTN was doing about the fine issued by the regulator, Ferdi Mooolman, CEO, MTN Nigeria said, “I see a situation where a relationship with the NCC is quickly restored and where we can start providing services to the Nigerian public together with the NCC.”
“We have learnt and moving forward we are making very sure that whatever we do, we do it according to the guidelines of the NCC,” he added.
JUMOKE AKIYODE
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