NCC Denies Receiving N50b From MTN

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has denied receiving N50b payment from MTN Nigeria, as earlier reported.
This is contrary to the claims made by MTN Nigeria that it has withdrawn a suit it filed against the NCC, and paid N50b

Reports quoted an MTN Nigeria statement that read "MTN Nigeria has today made an agreed without prejudice good faith payment of 50 Billion Naira ($251.3 million) to the Federal Government of Nigeria on the basis that this will be applied towards a settlement, where one is eventually, hopefully arrived at.”

Punch reports that MTN Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Ferdi Moolman also said “This is a most encouraging development. It demonstrates a willingness and sincerity by both parties to work together towards a positive outcome.”

In a swift reaction, NCC Director of Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo denied the claims saying “We, NCC, are not privy to it (agreement to withdraw a case from court and pay $250 million by MTN). We do not have anything to do with it. We do not have any evidence of payment of any money to the Nigerian government.”

He also said ‘’There is no invoice to that effect. We have also not gotten any official information or confirmation that they have withdrawn their case in court.”
“That information is not from us, NCC. It is MTN that released it from South Africa. We have not got into any discussion on the modalities of payment of the fine.
‘’Whatever MTN is doing does not affect the fact that a regulatory fine was imposed and payment is expected,” Ojobo added.

NCC slammed MTN Nigeria with a hefty N1.04 trillion fine over an alleged breach of SIM registration rules.