Telecom giant, MTN, has employed a former US attorney-general Eric Holder to negotiate on its behalf in its out-of-court settlement case with Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) over the N1.04 trillion fine slammed on it by the telecoms regulator for failure to deactivate 5.1 million unregistered or poorly registered SIM cards last year.
Holder’s brief is to help fight the multi-billion-dollar fine imposed on the mobile operator by Nigerian authorities.
Sources familiar with the matter said Holder made an initial visit to Abuja last month to plead with senior Nigerian officials on MTN’s behalf.
The hiring of Holder followed MTN’s decision to seek the out-of-court settlement with NCC late January after it had challenged the power of the telecoms regulator to impose the N1.04 trillion on it.
MTN is making little progress with its attempts to convince Nigerian authorities the fine is disproportionate and beyond the regulator’s authority. The Nigerian authorities claim the amount was calculated correctly according to rules set in 2011 on disconnecting unregistered SIMs. During his time as attorney general from 2009-2015, Holder participated in a number of major settlements with corporations such as JP Morgan Chase over mortgage-backed securities and BP over the Horizon oil spill.
When contacted to confirm the development, an official of MTN Nigeria said he was unaware of the matter.
“What you are saying is news to me; I cannot confirm or deny it. I just heard of it from you now,” the official said.
According to Financial Times, an unnamed official said MTN ignored warnings that its unregistered SIM cards were being used by criminals and Boko Haram insurgents, especially after a terrorist commander was captured with dozens of MTN cards after the August 2015 deadline for disconnecting any unregistered SIMs.
The move by the Nigerian mobile operator with headquarters in South Africa came as a surprise to many.
MTN had disregarded the 25 per cent discount NCC had offered it which reduced its fine to N780 billion ($3.8bn) and headed to Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, to challenge the overall fine. MTN hired 10 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) led by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) to argue its case in court.
Opinions are divided from the other parties to the suit in the wake of MTN’s decision to settle out of court in the legal tussle against the government.
Following the request by MTN, the presiding judge subsequently adjourned the matter till March 18, this year, when the two parties are expected to come back with their mutually-agreed decision on the matter as it came up for hearing before the Federal High Court in Lagos, on January 22, 2016.
MTN said if the parties are unable to reach a settlement, the matter will then proceed on that date.
-Leadership