By MKPE ABANG
Just hours after it issued an independent statement announcing it has reached a settlement with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on the lingering impasse over the N1.4 trillion landmark fine slammed on it by the Nigerian telecom regulator, the MTN Group received a rude shock, cutting short its victory celebrations: no, it’s not over just yet; the fine must be paid in full!
Reason: the country’s lawmakers have declared the meeting between the NCC and MTN at which the settlement was reached a nullity.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Communications, Honourable Saheed Akinade Fijabi expressed shock that such a ‘settlement’ could be consummated with the permission of the Communications Minister, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, without the lawmakers being consulted.
Speaking to newsmen on Friday, the very same day both MTN and NCC issued separate statements on the matter, Fijabi said his committee has summoned both Barrister Shittu and Prof. Umar Danbatta, the chief executive of the NCC, to appear before it on Monday, June 13, 2016, to explain the ‘purported’ reduction of the fine, despite the insistence of the House that the fine must be fully paid.
According to Honourable Fijabi, such a position is a slap on the House, as it is contrary to an agreement with the Minister, the NCC and the Attorney General of the Federation, that all negotiations on the MTN fine be suspended until the House concludes its investigations on the subject matter.
Legal experts specialising in the telecom industry in Nigeria have cautioned that the nation needs to take all necessary steps on the matter logically and within the law by following due process to bring it to a conclusion without creating room for needless suspicions.
For instance, in the drama that unfolded on Friday, a source at the NCC said MTN “rushed to issue a unilateral statement on the matter stating only the areas that favoured it without spelling out all that was agreed at the meeting” saying such a statement was hasty and undermines the spirit of conciliation already in place.
The source said MTN came to the meeting with NCC already armed with the statement, and actually issued the statement even while discussions were still on-going, adding it was a shock to NCC that even before the meeting ended, the news was already in the media nationally and internationally, all quoting the MTN statement.
In the NCC statement, which was later issued and signed by its Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo, and entitled “NCC, MTN agree on staggered payment”, the NCC, besides stating the same amount of N330 billion agreed upon for MTN to pay, gave an angle that the company never mentioned in its own statement: MTN “To list on Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) soon,” giving the impression of doubts on the agreed terms.
The NCC statement reads, further:
“After nearly six months of negotiation and re-negotiation over the N1.04Trillion fine imposed on MTN, Nigeria by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) the fine was yesterday reduced to N330Billion.
“This amount includes the “goodwill” payment of N50Billion earlier made by MTN to the government.
“The balance of N280Billion will be made in six tranches in the following order. By the terms of agreement, MTN will pay N30Billion into NCC’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 30 days from the date of the agreement dated June 10, 2016.
Other dates of payments include:
March 31, 2017 – N30Billion;
March 31, 2018 – N55Billion;
December 31, 2018 – N55Billion;
March 31, 2019 -N55Billion and the balance will be in
May 31, 2019 -N55Billion
“The agreement and resolutions were signed by Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC, Prof. Umar G. Danbatta, NCC Commission Secretary, Mr. Felix Adeoye, Chief Executive of MTN, Fredinand (Fredi) Moolman and MTN’s Company Secretary, Mrs. Uto Ukpanah, and witnessed by Mr. Tony Ojobo, NCC, Director, Public Affairs; Mr. Usman Malah, Chief of Staff to the EVC, NCC; Ms Helen Obi, Assistant Director, Legal, NCC and Ms. Amina Oyagbola, Corporate Executive, MTN.
“It was also agreed that MTN shall undertake the followings:
“Tender an apology in line with the apology previously tendered in correspondences relating to this matter to the Government of Nigeria and Nigerians within the one month of the execution of this Agreement;
“Subscribe to the voluntary observance of the Code of Corporate Governance for the Telecoms Industry and would ensure compulsory compliance when the said Code is made mandatory for the telecommunications industry; and
“Undertake to take immediate steps to ensure the listing of its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as soon as commercially and legally possible after the date of execution of this Settlement Agreement.
“Both parties agreed that these terms of settlement cannot be altered, varied, annulled or modified in any respect, except by writing duly executed by both parties; and the terms of settlement constitute all the terms and conditions of the settlement and supersede and replace any previous offers, representations and terms.”
The statement went on to give background to the subject matter, that “the NCC on October 20, 2015, imposed a fine of N1.04Trillion on MTN for infraction of the provisions of the Nigerian Communication Commission (Registration of the telephone subscribers) Regulations, 2011; for failure to disconnect 5.1million improperly registered lines within the prescribed deadline.
“In arriving at the agreement, the EVC said our decision was taken based on professionalism and global best practices, and in line with the NCC core value “to be fair, firm and forthright”
According to the EVC, the Commission has always carried industry and stakeholders along in taking transparent regulatory actions, adding that at no point will the regulator do anything to jeopardise the business health of the entire sector.
“We were careful not to take decisions that were likely to cripple the business interest of the operators we regulate. Besides, the downturn of the global economy is biting hard on everybody and every sector, so we must therefore be sensitive and flexible in our decisions.”