The Federal Government has confirmed receiving N50 billion from MTN as part-payment of the N1.04 trillion fine slammed on it by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Confirming receipt of the payment to newsmen on Friday, the Special Assistant to the Minister of Communications, Mr. Victor Oluwadamilare said the payment by the telecom giant was made as a precursor for an out of court settlement of the matter.
Oluwadamilare, who on Wednesday the reported payment was not made official, said the payment was in line with the promise by MTN to resolve the issue amicably with NCC.
MTN Nigeria on Wednesday announced the payment of $250 million as part of the N1.04 trillion fine imposed on it by the industry regulator.
NCC in October 2015, slammed a fine of N1.04 trillion on MTN for failure to deactivate 5.1 million unregistered subscribers after a series of warnings by the regulator to terminate them.
The company was originally given a fine of ($5.2 billion) in October, 2015, but after weeks of lobbying by MTN, the fine was reduced by 25 percent to N780 billion ($3.9 billion). MTN Group went to court to challenge the legality of NCC imposing such a huge fine on it but failed to argue its case to logical conclusion.
Not satisfied, the telecom company also went further to hire a former U.S. attorney general to help challenge the propriety of the fine. The former U.S. law enforcement officer, Eric Holder is said to have pleaded with Nigerian officials last month on behalf of the telecoms company without any fruitful outcome.
After hearing the case, the presiding judge in January gave the two parties a two-month period until March 18 to settle out of court.
MTN on Wednesday withdrew its lawsuite in an effort to reach an amicable settlement and made the $250 million payment towards a possible settlement.
-Vanguard
