MTN’s Nigerian unit could find itself on the receiving end of another financial penalty if it fails to pay its existing $3.9 billion fine by the end of the year, it emerged this week.
The government noted that MTN has taken legal action against the levy, but said it still expects the telco to pay on time, Nigeria’s Vanguard reported, quoting a representative of the country’s minister of communications, Adebayo Shittu.
The state will impose an additional fine on MTN if it does not meet the deadline, Shittu’s assistant, Victor Oluwadamilare, said.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) hit MTN’s local unit with a fine worth US$5.2 billion (€4.7 billion) in late October for its failure to disconnect millions of unregistered SIM cards in accordance with the regulator’s timetable. The NCC has since reduced the fine to US$3.9 billion on the grounds that MTN admitted it was in the wrong and taking into account its sizeable investments in Nigeria’s telecom sector.
Nonetheless, MTN has filed a lawsuit against the NCC. Essentially, it is challenging the authority of the regulator in imposing the fine, rather than the reason for it.
While the government recognises that MTN is within its rights to go to court, Oluwadamilare’s comment in Vanguard indicates that it is far from happy with the situation.
"It is unwise for MTN to go to court after the federal government had magnanimously reduced the fine," the paper quoted him as saying.
"[MTN} will surely be fined for violating the rule at the expiration of the deadline, should it fail to pay the initial fine," he said.
