MTN on Thursday announced that it is taking legal action to challenge the hefty fine imposed on it in Nigeria.
The African telecoms group said that it has taken legal advice on the matter which has led it to believe that Nigeria’s telecoms regulator does not have the necessary authority to levy such a pena lty.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) hit MTN’s local unit with a fine worth US$5.2 billion (€4.7 billion) almost two months ago 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.
MTN is still not satisfied though.
"The manner of the imposition of the fine and the quantum thereof is not in accordance with the NCC’s powers under the Nigerian Communications Act and therefore there are valid grounds upon which to challenge the fine," MTN said in a statement on Thursday.
As such, MTN has instructed lawyers to proceed with an action in the Federal High Court in Lagos, it said.
Nonetheless, the telco said it will still continue to engage with the Nigerian authorities with a view to resolving the matter out of court.
The fine has caused some significant upheaval for MTN and its management in recent weeks.
The telco’s group chief executive Sifiso Dabengwa resigned in early November, having tried and failed to resolve the situation. The company is being steered by executive chairman Phuthuma Nhleko for the next six months.
And earlier this month MTN Nigeria CEO Michael Ikpoki and head of regulatory and corporate affairs Akinwale Goodluck also resigned. The company initiated a management restructuring in a bid to improve operational oversight.
