$3.4b Fine: We Won’t Forgive MTN—FG

Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, on Tuesday in Abuja said the Federal Government was yet to agree an out-of-court settlement with telecoms firm, MTN, over the $3.4 billion fine slammed on it in December 2015.

MTN was fined $5.2bn by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, in October 2015, for regulatory infractions. The fine was later reduced to $3.4 billion, but the company later took the FG to court to challenge the fine.

Last Friday, MTN issued a statement saying it would now settle the case with the government out of court.

But Shittu said the FG was not aware of such development, stressing that the government would fight MTN to the last over the matter.

Shittu made this known at a press briefing to unveil the new ICT road map for 2016-2020.

He said, “We are not aware of any out of court settlement on the issue. We will not accept out of court settlement until MTN willingly discontinue the case.”