$8.1bn scandal: CBN didn’t give us fair hearing, MTN alleges

MTN Nigeria has accused the Central Bank of Nigeria of not giving it a fair hearing before asking the telecom firm to refund $8.1bn which the apex bank claimed MTN repatriated from Nigeria using irregular certificates of capital importation between 2007 and 2015.

In suit filed at a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, MTN said the breach of fair hearing is obvious in that CBN stated that it was the investigation against the banks led to the sanctions — rather than an investigation of the telco.

It also said it was not accused of any wrongdoing or invited to be a part of an investigation commissioned against it by the banking regulator.

Recall that aside from MTN, CBN had in August also ordered four banks — Diamond Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Stanbic IBTC and Citibank — to pay a fine of N5.87 billion.

MTN said it was not given the report of the investigation and was not informed of the charges against the bank or that it was under a joint investigation with the banks “in respect of a process that would lead to decisions taken against the plaintiff”.

The company alleged that the CBN’s disposition that fair hearing was given was a “mere ruse” and that the company “is not a threat to Nigeria’s economy but adds considerable value to the economy through the provision of direct and indirect employment as the largest mobile telecommunications provider in Nigeria”.

While denying any wrongdoing as alleged by the CBN, it insisted the bankers’ bank has no power to regulate the company.

Standard Chartered’s letter to CBN, according to MTN, shows that Nigeria’s largest mobile phone company performed all requirements necessary for a final approval.

MTN wondered why, after admitting that the company had the right to alter its share capital, the CBN still insisted another approval was necessary.

In its statement of defence and counterclaim dated September 28, 2018 by the CBN, the apex said it took the decision in exercising its statutory functions over the foreign exchange market “in order to enhance the welfare of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

The CBN said it was its investigation against the banks that led to the sanctions against MTN.

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The bank pleaded immunity in performing its functions of protecting Nigeria’s currency from inflammatory and deflationary shocks and maintaining healthy external reserves.

The court has fixed hearing for October 30, 2018.