Lawyers Call for Sack of NCC Boss over MTN

Lawyers under the auspices of Alliance for the Defence of Democracy in Nigeria want Prof Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC), sanctioned “for getting involved in the negotiation that led to the reduction of the fine imposed on the mobile network, MTN, for non-deactivation of improperly registered SIM cards.

They called for his resignation for the action, which they claimed compounded security challenges in the country.

The organization made the call in a statement signed by Cletus A. Onwu, secretary-general, addressed to the NCC boss, and copied the president and minister of communications.

The record fine of MTN Nigeria has been caught in web of claims and counter charges.

The latest being that the federal government has suspended talks with the MTN Group over the $3.9 billion while the House of Representatives completes an investigation into the size of the penalty and how it was delivered.

Victor Oluwadamilare, spokesperson of Nigeria's ministry of communications, reportedly said that lawmakers "have set up a committee to investigate the MTN saga and they are still on it".

"Until they are through with it, nothing can be done," he said.

"The federal government, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the ministry of communications can do nothing about the MTN case until the committee concludes its thorough investigation," Oluwadamilare told Bloomberg. "There's no point dealing with a particular organisation from different fronts. It would be counter-productive."

MTN Nigeria was slapped with a $5.2 billion penalty by the NCC last October for failing to disconnect 5.1 million unregistered SIM cards on its Nigerian network.

 In early December, the fine was reduced by 25% to $3.9 billion.

The MTN group has 232.5 million subscribers across 22 countries in Africa and the Middle East − 61.3 million of which are in Nigeria.