MTN N780 billion fine: ATCON hits Malami, Kyari, others for hijacking negotiation

 …ATCON advises NCC to assert constitutional roles

By ODUNEWU SEGUN

THE Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria has revealed how politicians and government appointees have turned the N780 billion-fine government slammed MTN into a pot of honey for President Muhammadu Buhari’s cash-strapped administration.

And the revelation was crouched in ATCON’s displeasure with those it believes have snagged the crisis as an opportunity to pull ranks and show off their importance without considering the impact the huge fine would have on Nigeria’s economy.

“We would like to advise that all politicians and public officers who are not of NCC and who seems to have abandoned their core jobs to focus on this MTN fine to please allow the NCC, who is charged with the responsibility of regulating the industry, to handle the matter professionally and in the best interest of the nation, “said Engr Lanre Ajayi, ATCON’s president.

The body told the Nigeria Communications Commission last week when its delegates visited the commission to take a position over the handling of the N1.04 trillion fine later reduced to N780 billion after a protracted negotiation.

Engr Ajayi argued that the fact that NCC presently has no commissioners (Board) is no excuse for others agencies and individuals to usurp the commissioners’ roles as it well known that in the absence of the board, the minister of communications acts as the board.

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“Non-NCC public officers should intervene only on invitation by NCC,” he said.

In clearer terms, Ajayi is indicting Justice Minister Abubakar Malami and the president’s Chief of Staff Abba Kyari who had butted into the crisis between the telecoms giant and the federal government, leading to the payment of N50 billion to the justice ministry without NCC’s approval.

MTN, in its proposal for settlement, had planned to pay N300billion only out of the MN1.04 trillion that was later reduced to N780, and already paid N50 billion, which was described as a good faith upfront.

The interference of other government agencies came to the fore last week when the House summoned Malami and Kyari to explain their roles in the MTN’s negotiation process.
Defending his position in a release, the justice minister said as the chief law officer of the federation, he is constitutionally vested with the powers to intervene in the matter.

The minister explained that an audience with MTN should not be misconstrued as an intention to saddle the NCC, the federal government or his office with an obligation over the fine.

Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has been pushing himself forward as the legal conscience of Buhari’s government in the last few months with his stands on due legal process.

Experts, however, picked holes in the said meeting with Mr. Malami, saying since the NCC had handed down appropriate sanctions in line with the terms agreed by all operators, there was no reason for the meeting.

“In the first place, why was NCC not involved in all preliminary negotiations and decisions, having direct or indirect bearing with the fine, being the agency at the centre of it all? JideAminu, an ATCON member told the National Daily.

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ATCON said that in as much as it would not tolerate unprofessional conduct and disrespect for rules, and infact support the use of fine as a tool to ensure compliance to regulations, it said MTN has suffered sufficient losses including loss of reputation, market value and revenue since the impasse started.

According to ATCON’s president, the idea of SIM card registration which was first mooted by ATCON was not meant to raise fund for government, or to destroy operators businesses when they run afoul of it.

“But it is meant to protect the environment where “we do business even if it means initial loss of business to telecoms operators as a result of its potential to slow down uptake of telephone services by customers,” he said.

“Our plea for leniency is based on our conviction that the breach was not done with a criminal intention to injure our national security but by share act of negligence. Our approach would have been different if otherwise proven.”

ATCON therefore called for more downward review of the fine to a figure not more than MTN’s profit for a year. This, the association said, would serve as enough deterrent for future breaches by other operators.