Nigerian, Former US Attorneys General to Head Negotiation on MTN Fine

FG confirms receipt of N50 bn from telco

The conciliatory stance adopted by MTN Nigeria Communications Limited over the N1.04 trillion imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) appears to be paying off, as the commission said yesterday that the government’s team to be led by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), would hold negotiations with the MTN team headed by former US Attorney General and Head of Covington & Burling LLP, Washington DC, Mr. Eric H. Holder, Jr. on the payment terms of the fine.

MTN last October was fined N1.04 trillion for failing to deactivate 5.2 million unregistered subscribers on its network, but the fine was later slashed to N780 billion. It was given till December 31, 2015 to pay the revised fine.

But before the payment deadline, it sued the federal government, NCC and others in order to preserve its business and multibillion-dollar investments in the country.

Last week, it elected to withdraw its case from court and paid N50 billion to NCC in a gesture of good faith signifying its willingness to reach a settlement with the industry regulator on the fine.

In a statement yesterday by NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo, NCC acknowledged receipt of the N50 billion paid by MTN.

However Ojobo was silent on the new terms for payment of the fine.

He said: “On the basis of out-of-court settlement, the federal government 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 invalid SIM cards as directed by the commission, thereby contravening the provisions of the regulation on SIM card registration.

“NCC wishes to affirm the federal government’s receipt of the sum of N50,000,000,000 (fifty billion naira only) towards settlement of the fine imposed on MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd by the commission, and its withdrawal of Suit No FHC/1923/2015 – MTN Vs. NCC & HAGF.”

According to him, the official information to the commission to this effect was received from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice yesterday.

He however said the amount was an “unconditional good faith payment”, on the basis that the sum would be applied towards the eventual settlement agreement for payment of the fine imposed by the commission, “where the ongoing negotiations between the government and MTN reach a final resolution”.

Ojobo said the government’s team for the negotiations will be led by Malami, while the MTN team will be led by Holder.

“The receipt of the amount and withdrawal of the suit is without prejudice to the final decision of the government on the terms of payment being proposed by the company,” Ojobo said.