MTN Fine: Why We Negotiated – Minister Explains

The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami has explained why he negotiated with management of MTN Nigeria Ltd on the 1.04 trillion naira infraction penalty to erase fears that the government wanted the telecommunications giant out of business.

The Minister stated this in Abuja when he appeared before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Telecommunications, chaired by Hon. Saheed Fijabi to defend his actions.

He said, “Penalties are meant naturally to be negotiated. It is not (the) intention of Nigeria to kill MTN at all. I am not here to defend MTN, but my responsibility must be in public interest and I am not unmindful of the fact that Nigeria is looking for foreign investors, but my responsibility must be factored into public interest.”.

Malami added that the offences committed by MTN did not border on criminality, but were mere infractions against industry rules.

Malami’s explanation became necessary following reservations expressed by members of the House Committee after the Attorney-General’s unilaterally decision to enter into such settlement deal with MTN contrary laid down rules, and the exclusion of National Communication Commission (NCC), the regulatory agency in the discussions.

NCC had imposed a deadline on mobile operators to cut off unregistered SIM cards, MTN missed this deadline, amid fears the lines were being used by criminal gangs, including militant Islamist group Boko Haram.