MTN withdraws suit against NCC, pays N50bn ‘in good faith’

ABUJA— MTN has withdrawn its suit against the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC) and paid N50 billion ($250
million) towards an amicable resolution of the fine imposed on the
telecoms giant.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government, yesterday, denied knowledge of
the development and payment of the money.
NCC had fined MTN N1.04 trillion for failing to deactivate 5.1 million
unregistered SIM cards and later reduced the amount to N780 billion
after the first round of negotiations.
However, MTN filed a suit as the December 31, 2015 deadline drew
nearer, and later requested an out-of-court settlement.
Yesterday, the mobile phone company finally withdrew the case at the
Federal High Court in Lagos in response to a request by the Nigerian
authorities.
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman, said on
the withdrawal: “This is a most encouraging development. It
demonstrates a willingness and sincerity by both parties to work
together towards a positive outcome.”
MTN paid N50 billion to the Federal Government “as a gesture of
good faith and commitment to continued efforts towards an amicable
resolution,” according to the telecoms company.
Moolman further said: “We are hopeful at this stage. Along with the
authorities, it is clear that we are collectively committed to working
towards a solution that is of mutual benefit to all parties.
"Our industry in Nigeria is an incredibly important example of the
remarkable progress in ICT, particularly as a much needed catalyst for
socio-economic growth and development at this time."
We're still studying situation —FG
Denying government’s knowledge of the development, Special
Assistant to the Minister of Communications, Mr. Victor
Oluwadamilare, who stated this in an interview with Vanguard , said
the development had not been made official as the development was
still under Federal Government’s scrutiny.
He said: “That has not been confirmed and I can confirm to you that
the situation is still being studied. To the best of my knowledge, the
amount announced is not the fine they are expected to pay. The
Federal Government is still studying it.
“They decided to go to court and never wanted an amicable
settlement. If they now want settlement, there has to be an official
statement on that soon,” he said.
Our investigation showed that the payment was made to pave way for
possible settlement out of court with the NCC after all its effort to
stop the payment failed.
Recall that the NCC had in October 2015, slammed a fine of N1.04
trillion on MTN for its failure to deactivate over five million improperly
registered subscribers after series of warning had were issued by the
regulator to terminate them.
The company was originally given a fine of $5.2 billion in October,
2015, and after weeks of lobbying by the telecom company, the fine
was reduced by 25 percent ($3.9 billion).
MTN Group went to court to challenge the legality of NCC to impose
such a huge fine on it but failed to argue its case to logical
conclusion.
Not satisfied, the telecom company also went further to hire a former
U.S. attorney general to help challenge the propriety of the
fine.Federal Government has denied the knowledge any payment of
$250 million made by MTN over its N1.04 trillion fine imposed on
it by the Nigerian Communications commission (NCC).
The former U.S. law enforcement officer, Eric Holder is said to have
pleaded with Nigerian officials last month on behalf of the telecoms
company without any fruitful outcome.
After hearing the case, the presiding judge in January gave the two
parties a two month period to settle out of court . However, effort to
confirm the development from MTN spokesperson did not yield result.
A judge in Lagos also had last month gave both parties until March
18 to reach a settlement, after MTN had asked the court to arbitrate
over the dispute, saying the Nigerian Communications Commission
(NCC) had no legal grounds to order the fine.
Vanguard checks gathered that MTN on Wednesday resolved to
withdraw its court challenge in an effort to reach an amicable
settlement and make a payment of $250 million towards a possible
settlement.

Why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"""""""""""""""

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Na consumer go pay the money back

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*216*1*3# or *216*3*1#

*216*1*3# or *216*3*1#

Itumo??

understand nani