Leading telecommunications company, MTN
Nigeria, has withdrawn its suit against the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC) and paid the
sum of N50 billion out of the N780 billion fine the
NCC imposed on it.
The NCC had fined MTN Nigeria a record N1.04 trillion last October for failing to deactivate 5.1
million unregistered lines from its network.
Following weeks of high-level negotiation between
the company and government officials, the fine was
reduced to N780 billion.
Dissatisfied with the reduction, MTN dragged the Nigerian Government before a Federal High Court in
Lagos, seeking to stop the payment of the fine, for
which the NCC gave it a Dec. 31st 2015 deadline to
pay.
However, last month, MTN Nigeria indicated its
willingness to settle out-of-court. A statement issued by the telecommunications
company on Wednesday states that the sum of
N50bn was paid to the federal government
Quote
“as a gesture of good faith and commitment
to continued efforts towards an amicable
resolution”.

MTN Nigeria’s CEO, Ferdi Moolman, while speaking
on the new development, said:

Quote
“This is a most encouraging development. It
demonstrates a willingness and sincerity by
both parties to work together towards a
positive outcome. 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”.

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