MTN Hires Ex-U.S Attorney General to Challenge NCC over $3.9b Fine

Africa’s largest mobile phone company, MTN, has hired a former United States Attorney-General, Eric Holder, to help challenge the $3.9 billion fine imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for failing to disconnect unregistered users.

It could be recalled that MTN was handed a $5.2 billion penalty in October, prompting weeks of lobbying that led to a 25 percent reduction to $3.9 billion, a fine imposed by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, for having 5 million unregistered SIMs in its network, which eventually led to another round of SIM cards registration exercise in the country.

According to Reuters, MTN spokesman, Chris Maroleng, was not immediately available to comment on the latest development. However, the Financial Times on Wednesday, cited people familiar with the situation, saying that Holder pleaded with Nigerian officials last month on behalf of the telecoms company.

MTN, however, was still not prepared to pay the fine and launched a court challenge in December, saying the Nigerian telecoms regulator had no legal grounds to order the penalty.

A Federal High Court judge sitting in Lagos last month gave MTN until March 18 to try to reach a settlement over the fine, which equates to more than twice MTN’s annual average capital spending over the past five years.

Holder, who led the US Justice Department from 2009 to2015, was one of President Barack Obama’s longest-serving cabinet members. He returned to the law firm Covington & Burling, where he was previously a partner from 2001 to 2009.