N1.04trn Fine: "President Buhari will decide MTN’s fate" - Communications Minister

The Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, has said that the issue of N1.4 trillion fine imposed on MTN Nigeria by the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC, is now before President Muhammadu Buhari, who will take the necessary decision at the appropriate time in the best interest of the country.

The Minister, disclosed this, yesterday, at the Alliance 4 Affordable Internet Nigeria Coalition conference in Lagos.

He said that the government decision to impose fine on MTN was not borne out of hatred but ”in the interest of the public.”

He stressed that MTN admitted that it erred and apologised and that the matter was before the President, who will take the final decision, which he vowed, will be in the interest of Nigeria.

“I don’t think there is any conflicting position on where government stands on the MTN issue. Recall that there were violations which were established against MTN.

“The violations were to the tune of five million subscribers. There are many countries where subscribers, in the entire country, are not up to half of the five million. In the case of Nigeria, we had more than five million violations.

“However, both the government and MTN are on the same page that rules have been broken in this instance.

“The issue is now before Mr President. He will take the necessary decision at the appropriate time. And the President would do what is best for the public interest,“ the Minister said.

“The good thing is that MTN did not contest the fact that they had violated the regulations and guidelines. They never contested it. They admitted they were at fault. They apologized for their role in the saga and they made a commitment that what happened will never happen again. And of course, they made a plea for review of the payment terms,” he said.

Credit: Vanguard