Ijeoma Agudosi
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it is yet to secure proof of payment of N50 billion from MTN.
Clarifying this position, Tony Ojobo, the Director of Communication, NCC, said the commission is neither aware of MTN’s decision to withdraw its court case, nor its alleged payment of N50 billion to the Nigerian government.
“We (NCC) are not privy to it (agreement to withdraw a case from court and pay $250 million by MTN),”.
“We do not have anything to do with it. We do not have any evidence of payment of any money to the Nigerian government.
There is no invoice to that effect. And we have also not gotten any official information or confirmation that they have withdrawn their case in court,” he said.
According to him, the widespread news of the company’s N50 billion part-payment was released by MTN South Africa and not the NCC.
He noted that the Commission has not entered into any discussion on the modalities of payment of the fine, adding “Whatever MTN is doing does not affect the fact that a regulatory fine was imposed and payment is expected,”.
Mr. Ojobo further assured Nigerians that the management of the NCC would meet to review the report and make a decision, which would be communicated to the public through an official statement.
MTN had in a statement claimed that it was dropping its legal challenge, in addition to making a payment of N50 billion in “good faith”.