There are indications that the immediate reason for the hefty $U.S 5.2 billion fine imposed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on telecommunications operator in the country, MTN Nigeria, may not be unconnected with the recent kidnapping of one-time Finance minister and Yoruba Elder statesman, Chief Olu Falae.
NCC had accused the telecoms operator of failure to cut off unregistered SIM cards by the deadline day which prompted the regulatory body to slam the fine long after the deadline itself had elapsed.
Sources allege that the kidnapping of a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Olu Falae, was real reason for the hefty fine by the NCC.
Falae who was abducted from his home in Ondo, in September, by suspected Fulani herdsmen , who,. it was revealed used phone lines of the MTN company which were supposed to have been cut off on the expiration of the NCC deadline.
“It transpired that the phone the kidnappers were using to communicate their ransom demands had an unregistered SIM card from MTN,” the source said.
The aim of SIM registration, according to sources, was dented by the failure of the telecoms company to comply with it, as it was seen as being crucial to limiting the communications of various armed criminal and terrorist groups in the country.
Late Monday, share trading in MTN, Africa’s biggest mobile operator, has restarted after earlier being suspended following the indications that MTN may not be willing to pay the fine.
Trading in MTN Group was halted in Johannesburg after the stock fell 8%.
Dealings later started again after the company said it was in talks with Nigerian authorities about reducing the record $5.2bn fine.
The sum amounts to double MTN’s annual profits last year.
MTN issued a statement on Monday it was in talks with the Nigerian presidency, internal security agency and the communications regulator about the fine.
Chief executive Sifiso Dabengwa, who used to run the company’s Nigerian operations, is understood to be Abuja in a bid to negotiate a lower penalty.
Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market, with 28.5 million subscribers, followed by Iran and South Africa.
The company’s shares had fallen by about 25% since the fine was announced on Monday last week, wiping about 60bn rand (£2.7bn) off its market value, with the company now worth about £13bn.
MTN has 231 million subscribers in 22 countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
In September, the company was named as most admired brand in Africa in the Brand Africa 100 awards, beating Samsung, while it was also awarded the continent’s most valuable brand – worth $4.6bn.
MTN was South Africa’s second mobile operator when it was set up in 1994 after the fall of apartheid.
It began its expansion across Africa four years later with operations in Rwanda, Uganda and Swaziland.
