South Africa’s MTN Group this morning in Lagos asked for an out-of-court settlement in a suit filed by the mobile phone company against the Nigerian government’s N1.04 trillion fine imposed on its Nigerian subsidiary, MTN Nigeria, for alleged breach of subscriber registration rules.
It was a major volte face by the MTN, the biggest mobile phone company in Nigeria, at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi when it opted to settle out of court in the suit filed against the telecoms industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), who led a powerful team of MTN lawyers including 10 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) to the court, told the Presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Idris, that MTN has opted to settle out of court.
MTN’s request turns out to be a dramatic anticlimax to the major legal challenge initiated by the South African mobile phone company when it decided to challenge the decision of the Nigerian regulator to impose the fine, based on its claim that NCC lacked the powers to impose the punishment under its establishing laws.
Opinion were divided from the other parties to the suit in the wake of MTN’s decision to settle out of court in the legal tussle against the Nigeria government, which fined the company for not deactivating over 5.1 million unregistered mobile phone lines on its network.
Following the request by MTN, the Presiding Judge subsequently adjourned the matter till March 18, this year, when the two parties are expected to come back with their mutually-agreed decision on the matter.
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