Telecom giant says it will only pay N300 billion in NCC fine settlement proposal

folarin okunola

March 11, 2016 2:48 PM

The news comes two days after South African President Jacob Zuma visited Nigeria, during which he appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to consider a negotiation between MTN and the NCC.

A worker sweeps past an outlet of South Africa's MTN Group in Johannesburg, February 23, 2016. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

Media reports MTN Nigeria has proposed a N300 billion payment to settle the N780 billion fine imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The news comes two days after South African President Jacob Zuma visited Nigeria, during which he appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to consider a negotiation between MTN and the NCC.

MTN is making the offer to put to bed the dispute which has been running since October when the NCC initially fined the telecom company $5.1 billion.

The Senate Committee on Communications also met on Thursday to discuss the issue, coming to the conclusion that the MTN negotiations must continue with the involvement of the Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu.

The NCC had initially fined MTN N1.04 trillion before reducing it to N780 billion. Also, MTN was initially given till December 31, 2015 to pay the fine, but the company made a U-turn and then sued the regulator in a Federal High Court in Lagos, along with the attorney general of the federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

MTN has since appealed with the court to let it reach an agreement with the NCC (which was granted), withdrawn its case from court and made a 'goodwill' payment of $250 million to the NCC.

Do you think the telecom giant is pushing its luck?

folarin okunola