Leading telecoms company, MTN, fined N330 billion months back over their refusal to deactivate 5 million unregistered SIM cards as directed by the Nigerian Communications Commission, has just made a part payment of N80 billion.
This was disclosed by Alhaji Adebayo Shittu, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, in Abuja, recently.
MTN, it would be recalled, was initially fined a whopping $5.2 billion for the serious infraction. However, in tampering justice with mercy, the money was reduced to N330 billion, out of which they just coughed out N80 billion, and amidst recession.
According to NCC law, any unregistered SIM will attract a N200,000 fine and when that is multiplied by 5 million, the punishment is what was visited on MTN, said a YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine source.
In the words of Shittu: “When it happened, the MTN did four things; one they accepted that they were in default, two, they apologised for that and three they committed themselves never to allow such a thing to happen and number four, they asked for remission.”
On the reduction of the fine, he explained that: “We also knew that we invited the international community to come and invest and anything that will be done which will shake the confidence of international investors in Nigerian economy, we must avoid it.
“Consequently, we must not throw away the baby with the bath water, if they had packed up and left, let us assume all their staff are not more than 5, 000, it means all of those 5,000 will lose their jobs.
“Also those who made investment, who bought shares will lose their shares and the Nigeria banking sector would go into crisis,’’ he ended.