These, no doubt, are obnoxious times for telecommunications giant, MTN.
Their Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Sifiso Dabengwa, just resigned and his resignation is as a result of the $5.2 billion (about 1.04 trillion) fine slammed on the company for running foul of one of NCC’s laws. The Nigerian Communications Commission had given all the telecoms companies in Nigeria a deadline to disconnect all their unregistered subscribers, which MTN didn’t comply with and instead continued to accommodate 5.1 million of them.
The fine is 200,000 per unregistered number. Thus the $5.2 billion fine, which ever since it was announced has continued to alter things in the company. In fact, not long after the mind blowing fine became public, panic immediately set in. Their shares were suspended in South Africa, then the price fell to an all-time low and now the resignation of the Group CEO. Fear of job losses also fly all over the place. With the likes of Senator Ben Bruce, owner of Silverbird Group, warning about the huge consequences should the matter not be amicably resolved.
Meanwhile, a Non Executive Chairman of the company, Phuthuma Nhleko, in the interim, will function in that capacity pending when a new GCEO is announced. Just resigned Dabengwa, interestingly, used to oversee MTN in Nigeria before being upped to the company’s Group Chief Executive Officer; a position he just quit.