N1.4trn: MTN seeks out of court settlement with NCC

Telecommunications company, MTN Nigeria has opted to pursue an out of
court settlement with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) with
respect to the N1.4trillion the latter imposed on the firm.

Customers waiting to register at the MTN Kaduna office; credit Emeka Offor

At the resumption of hearing on the suit filed by MTN at the Federal
High Court in Lagos, lead counsel for the telecoms giant, Wole
Olanipekun, SAN moved that the firm would embrace an out of court
settlement.

Olanipekun led a legal team comprising of 6 other senior advocates of
Nigeria while the NCC was similarly represented in court by 5 senior
advocates alongside Lawyers from their chambers.

The NCC had in 2015 imposed a N1.4trn fine on MTN for failing to
deactivate 5 million unregistered SIM cards, an action which violated a
regulation agreed to by all telecom operators and was also deemed a
threat to security efforts in the country.

The NCC reviewed the fine downward to N780 billion following
negotiations between the federal government and top management of the
parent company of the firm, MTN Group of South Africa.

MTN Nigeria subsequently refused to
pay the reduced fine and instead filed a suit at the High Court claiming
NCC had no powers to impose the fine in the first instance. 

Story: The Cable; Twitter/backarray

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