Time is running out on MTN to either negotiate downwards or pay up the N1trillion fine imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission for its sim card registration violation. The company has till Monday, the 16th of November 2015 to pay up the fines. It is still unclear whether the files will be negotiated downwards, paid in full or if the deadline date will be extended.
Reports also suggest the new Group’s Executive Chairman Phuthuma Nhleko has been in Nigeria in the past few days for negotiations. As things stand, Mr Nhleko is more likely to be negotiation an extension than the fines as he needs to buy more time in the event that he is unsuccessful in getting Nigerian authorities to reduce the fine.
There might however be a silver lining for MTN as the new Minister of Communication has said that the country does not want to see MTN “die”.
“A judgment has been given, as it were, and the period for enforcement has not yet passed,” Adebayo Shittu, who was sworn in as communications minister this week, told Reuters in an interview. ……Nobody wants MTN to die. Nobody wants MTN to shut down,”
