The Executive Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission
(NCC), Professor Umar Danbatta has made the disclosure that MTN Nigeria has so
far been able to pay 60 per cent of the fine placed on it by the commission.
NCC, had in 2015, placed a N1.04 trillion fine on the telco
giant for non-compliance with a deadline set by the commission to disconnect
all non-registered sim cards.
The move follows accusations by mobile phone users that the
regulator had failed to bring operators to account for poor services to
subscribers.
After prolonged negotiation with both the regulatory agency
and the Federal Government, the company had the fine reduced to N330 billion
with an agreement for settlement being spread for over three-year period.
By the terms of agreement, MTN was expected to pay N30
billion into NCC’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) with the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) in June while the remaining balance was expected to be discharged
as follows: N30 billion on 31 March 2017; N55 billion on 31 March 2018; N55
billion on 31 December 2018; N55 billion on 31 March 2019 and N55 billion on 31
May 2019.
In a recently-held interview, Danbatta said MTN Nigeria and
the regulatory body are on course as far as the fine is concerned.
According to Dambatta, MTN had up-to-date paid N165 billion
and would remit another N50 billion in addition to the rest of the installment
payments before the year 2018 runs out.
Dambatta said the N165 billion paid, has since been remitted
to the Consolidated Revenue Account of the federation in line with extant laws.
However, MTN is expected to list on the Nigerian Stock
Exchange (NSE) on or before May 2019, as contained in the agreement over the
2015 fine settlement between the regulator and the telecom company.
The long-awaited and
highly speculated IPO
In the meantime, MTN has revealed that it has made some
progress on its planned listing on the NSE. According to the President MTN
Group, Rob Shutter, MTN will list on the Nigerian bourse before the end of this
year.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently denied
receiving any application from MTN Nigeria Limited regarding its proposed
Initial Public Offering (IPO) this has raised concerns on the preparedness of
the company for the much-awaited listing.
Talks about the IPO have dominated business reports
throughout the year, with rife speculations about the actual
details/entailment.
An earlier report had it that the MTN shares’ listing would
happen in June 2018. There have also been conflicting reports about the exact
amount the company wants to raise through the IPO, including a report that it
was hoping to raise about ₦100 billion. Last month, an MTN spokesperson
debunked rumours that MTN had ever hinted at issuing as much as $500
million-valued shares during the IPO.
