FG suspends negotiations pending reps probe

Media reports say Nigeria has suspended talks with MTN Group Ltd. about a $3.9 billion fine placed on the company by the NCC.

Negotiations on the fine have been suspended indefinitely while the House of Representatives completes an investigation into the size of the penalty and how it was delivered.

According to a Bloomberg report, the lawmakers “have set up a committee to investigate the MTN saga and they are still on it,” Victor Oluwadamilare, spokesman for Nigeria’s Ministry of Communications said.

“Until they are through with it, nothing can be done.”

The delay will frustrate South Africa-based MTN as it continually looks to resolve a fine that was levied against it in October for missing a deadline to disconnect unregistered SIMs in the country, which is battling an Islamist insurgency.

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Since news of the fine went public, the company’s stock has fallen by almost a third, costing MTN the title of Africa’s biggest wireless company by market capitalization to crosstown rival Vodacom Group Ltd.

“The federal government, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the ministry of communications can do nothing about the MTN case until the committee concludes its thorough investigation,” Oluwadamilare said, according to the Bloomberg report.

“There’s no point dealing with a particular organization from different fronts. It would be counter-productive.”

The Bloomberg reports state that MTN’s last reported offer was to pay $1.5 billion in a combination of staggered cash payments, sovereign debt purchases and access to its network.

MTN is Nigeria’s biggest mobile-phone company, and in turn the country is the largest of MTN’s 22 markets across Africa and the Middle East.