The Minister of Communications, Mr.
Adebayo Shittu, on Wednesday said that the Federal Government had
concluded plans to meet with the MTN Group to resolve the dispute over
the N1.04tn fine imposed on the telecommunications firm, which was later
reduced to N780bn.
Although the minister said that the
meeting would hold “very soon,” reliable sources in the ministry told
one of our correspondents that “the meeting will hold next week with the
South Africa’s President, Jacob Zuma, in attendance.”
Zuma is billed to visit Nigeria next
week for talks with President Muhammadu Buhari on the matter and other
issues, according to details of an itinerary at the Presidential Villa
in Abuja.
Despite last week’s payment of N50bn as
part of the fine by MTN Nigeria in “good faith,” and withdrawal of a
lawsuit it instituted against the Nigerian Communications Commission,
Shittu said he could not say if the company would get any further
reprieve from the government.
He said only Buhari would make the final
decision on any settlement over the penalty, adding, “It is within his
power and jurisdiction to do that if he feels that it will be in the
interests of Nigeria to so do.
“It is now for the government to meet
with them and conclude negotiations. The final decision rests solely
with President Muhammadu Buhari.”
MTN Nigeria declined commenting on the
development. But officials at the MTN Group office in South Africa said
on condition of anonymity that the telecoms company could head back to
court if the government fail to reduce the N780bn fine.
“The MTN Group is looking in the way of
Ahmed Joda, the ex-Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the
Nigerian Communications Commission, to get the government to
significantly reduce the fine. We may resume the lawsuit if no deal with
the Nigerian government sails through,” one of the officials said.
Shittu also said Nigeria was in advanced
talks with an Indian firm to lay fibre optic cables from Kogi State to
the Federal Capital Territory, but declined to name the firm.
He said he would also travel to China
and South Korea within two weeks in a bid to encourage foreign firms to
invest in broadband services in the country.
The minister also denied an allegation
that the government side-lined the Nigerian Communications Commission in
negotiations with MTN on the fine.
In a statement made available to one of
our correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday, the Special Assistant to the
Minister on Media, Mr. Victor Oluwadamilare, said the government could
not have side-lined the NCC on the matter.
Oluwadamilare said, “To all intents and
purposes, there is no controversy whatsoever about the expected role of
ministries over their agencies and parastatals, and the Ministry of
Communications could not have been an exception.
“Thus, it is a common knowledge that the
Ministry of Communications statutorily has supervisory role over its
agencies, including the Nigeria Communications Commission. It is against
this backdrop that it is strange and curious that a section of the
Nigerian media has decided to deliberately misinform the reading public
about the correct position of things.
“It is evidently untrue that Nigerian
government side-lined its own regulator, the NCC, by striking a secret
deal with MTN. In whose interest will this be?”
By Everest Amaefule and Ozioma Ubabukoh
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