MTN Nigeria has today paid NgN50bn (US$250m) of its pending US$3.9bn fine to the Nigerian government, the company stated in a regulatory filing. Former US attorney general Eric Holder, now a partner at law firm Covington & Burling, is advising MTN Nigeria on the negotiations.
MTN Nigeria has today paid NgN50bn (US$250m) of its pending US$3.9bn fine to the Nigerian government, the company stated in a regulatory filing. It said it had made the “good faith payment…on the basis that this will be applied towards a settlement, where one is eventually, hopefully arrived at”.
The company, a subsidiary of South Africa’s MTN (JSE:MTN), also said it had “agreed to withdraw the matter from the Federal High Court in Lagos” in an effort to “achieve an amicable settlement”.
It reiterated that group executive chairman Phuthuma Nhleko continues to lead the team negotiating a settlement with the Nigerian government.
Former US attorney general Eric Holder (pictured), now a partner at law firm Covington & Burling, is advising MTN Nigeria on the negotiations. The final decision is expected to lie with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
In January, a federal judge gave MTN until 18 March to negotiate an out-of-court settlement. The company has so far managed to reduce the fine, imposed for failing to switch off unregistered SIM cards, from US$5.2bn to US$3.9bn.
Officials at telecoms regulator the NCC have said their intention is not to “kill” MTN, which in Nigeria reaped revenues of N824.8bn (US$4.1bn) in FY 2014.