Kikero112:


The Nigerian telecoms regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) last month, shocked telecoms operators and their subscribers when it slammed a whopping N1.04 trillion fine on MTN for failure to deactivate 5.2 million unregistered and improperly registered SIM cards from its network. The offence attracts N200,000 per SIM card, amounting to N1.04 trillion for a total of 5.2 million defaulting SIM cards.[/i]

So you see....fine was in naira. And the OP misled us....again.

Okay... $5.2 billion as fine for 5.2 million unregistered lines, yet you say the fine was charged in Naira? You don't see the correlation that it was $1,000 per line. Oh well, it's the OP that is misleading us, not you.





What exactly would be the rationale of fining a company N1 trillion for not disconnecting 5.2 million unregistered lines, when their annual revenue is not up to that amount. Is the fine aimed at reprimanding the firm, or shutting it down and creating more unemployed people and redundant infrastructure? is the fine meant to foot the deficit in the Nigerian budget, as we have seen our debtor Governors joining their voices in asking the Federal Government to milk MTN of those precious billions of dollars. Is the fine even in anyway commensurate with the offense committed by the firm?


"NCC got angry" is not enough reason to impose an impossible fine on the 1 shining example of Foreign Investment we've had since 1999 that our Government started screaming FDI. Regulators do not fine companies based on how angry they got, but based on the offense committed. It's like telling me a judge "got angry" and sentenced a pickpocket to death simply because he refused to show up in court. It does work that way!


Then reduction of the fine again showed that they had no clear cut basis for charging it in the first place. However, they are now reducing it without proper consultations again. Do you know that if MTN had paid the $5.2 billion fine, or even the reduced $3.9 billion fine, that would have been the largest corporate fine ever paid in the history of the world?! Haba! Na dem kill Dle Giwa?!

Super sensible talk right here........if only i'd get this kinda reply consistently , nairaland would make more sense

Kikero112:


The Government is not economically wrong here.

We do not have enough dollars flowing into the country because over the last year...oil prices have been falling.

We need dollars to prop up the economy.

That is why we are becoming more serious about raising money from taxation....which is why MTN is in soup right now...because sins that would have been overlooked in the times of plenty are not being overlooked now.

And yes....it was wrong to buy cars from BMW. But even if they bought from Innoson....Innoson still assembles his cars whose parts are made outside the country.So...dollars would STILL be leaving the country.

The problem is the fall in the oil price. Thus,.....we must make our economy less dependent on oil, and more dependent on manufacturing using the abundant raw materials we have.

nex:
Nigerians, both home and abroad, have been feeling the bite of the foreign exchange restrictions imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on since 2015. Bureaus De Change (BDCs) have been made to pass through several new regulations in order to remain in operation, and citizens, both home and abroad, wake up everyday to find out they can’t pay for what they used to anymore. Importers are stuck in limbo, travelers don’t know what to expect on trips, and students in foreign universities have been turned to debtors.





Despite all the pains and confusion caused by these policies, it would interest Nigerians to know that Government and Government officials remain keen on transacting in American Dollars. It may surprise most of you to know that Nigeria’s Budget 2016 is still based on the prices of crude oil in dollars amid all the talks of diversification of the economy, and restriction on FOREX.

This rant is borne out of deep seated ignorance unfortunately. There is no phobia, allegiance or love for the dollars. It is simply the world major currency that most economies are rated with/by. There is no BAN on the dollar as implied in the article, what we have are restrictions and limitations on dollars/foreign currency. This is due to the OBVIOUS scarcity of the dollars. Anywhere, when you have something that is scarce and is yet in high demand, there has to be restructuring and adjustments. The bulk of the dollars used in Nigeria is with and gotten from the FG, and they do not have enough, definitely they have to put some barrier so that it wouldn't hurt us more. The budget is 6.08trillion NAIRA, it is not calculated in dollars. Crude oil price is quoted in dollars worldwide, it is not a Nigerian government obsession. Also, the amount expected from crude oil is about 30% of the total money, the remaining bulk 70% is expected from other sources. That is a good start for diversification.

The N3.6 billion dollars budgeted for BMW cars will not be paid in Nigeria to Bavaria Motor Works, but in dollars. This is at a time when Innoson Motors and Stallion Motors which are both producing cars in Nigeria will shout “Hallelluyah” at the Naira equivalent, which will create more jobs, and deepen automotive technology advancement in Nigeria.

The figure you quoted is false/wrong. There is no dollars budgeted for BMW cars. And there is no crime to do legitimate business in any currency of choice as far as it doesn't hurt the country. Also, you cannot force people to use stuff or dictate how or where they spend their money. It's a democracy, remember?

It will appear that the Nigerian Government prefer spending dollars to Naira, but it also prefers to receive payments in dollars over its own legal tender. Recently, Africa’s largest telecommunications company, MTN was slapped with a $5.2 billion fine for not disconnection about 5.2 million phone lines. The first day Nigerians first heard this fine, we believed it to be a N5 billion but according to the regulatory body, Nigerian Communications Commission, the penalty was calculated at $1,000 per defaulting MTN line! How so?! Why dollars? As much as some of us have tried to create some logic by explaining the possibility of a typographical error which may have exchanged “N” for “$”, the regulatory body insists and maintains that its fine is in USD.

The dollar is stronger than the naira and more stable. It makes economic sense to do business in dollars and people would crave to rather be paid in dollars than a smaller currency when doing international business. Be that as it may, i do not know of anywhere the FG has stipulated that MTN must pay its fine in dollars. The price of goods, the wealth of people are usually quoted in dollars internationally. That way, people anywhere can easily estimate the amount discussed/said. The first day i heard the fine(and i'm a Nigerian BTW), i also heard about the terms and conditions of the fine, the defaulting by MTN and refusal to comply after several warnings where other GSM networks complied. It is all stated in the companies terms and conditions with the NCC. It is not Buhari that just wrote what he felt, this are measures and conditions that all the GSM companies already signed with Nigeria.

So what exactly inspires this preference of foreign currency over the Nigerian legal tender? In the case of the MTN fine, it is so ridiculous that the NCC has reduced the fine to $3.9 billion, but let’s face things square, no company is will be the scapegoat to foot 15% of your national budget. It has never happened in the history of humanity, and it will never happen! Even though the NCC has slightly reduced that fine in a “show of mercy”, but we should admit our mistakes when them.

It is not a matter of scape goats, go and read up and find out more on the MTN issue. It is part of the terms and conditions they had earlier signed. And after defaulting, they were warned to register those lines. Airtel, Etisalat and Glo complied but MTN didn't.

We must have a clear economic direction in this country. We’re either restricting FOREX from the entire system or we are not. We’re either growing our economy or we’re not. We’re either encouraging foreign direct investment, or we’re killing off the existing foreign investors who have dared to succeed within all the peculiarities of Nigeria.


SOURCE: http://www.barbaric.com.ng/cbns-forex-restrictions-and-governments-obsession-with-dollars

Duh, the reason for the restriction is not a phobia of dollars or a hate for it. The FG simply doesn't have enough to supply the luxurious demands for it. They need more of it(dollars) for a stronger economy. Nobody is discouraging foreign investment, MTN should obey rules and regulations or back off. Its no longer business as usual where everything goes and a bribe solves it all.