We didn’t bribe anyone to slash NCC fine, says MTN

Ferdi Moolman, chief executive officer of MTN, on Friday said the telecommunications giant did not give bribe for the reduction of the N1.04 trillion fine which the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) imposed on the company for infraction.

Moolman said his response was based on an online report, alleging that a top official in the presidency took bribe from the company to get the federal government to reduce the fine.

”MTN Nigeria has no knowledge of this and the allegation is therefore denied,” he said.

“The MTN Nigeria fine was ultimately settled with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).”

A top presidency official had been accused of collecting N500 million as bribe from MTN to help the company mitigate the fine.

The NCC had last year reduced the fine to N330 billion.

The fine was imposed in October 2015, over the inability of the operator to disconnect about 5.1 million subscribers it registered improperly on its network.

By the terms of the agreement, MTN is expected to pay N30 billion to the NCC, 30 days from the date the agreement was entered into on June 10, 2016.

MTN is also expected to pay N30 billion to NCC on March 31, 2017 and another N30 billion on March 31, 2018.

It is also to pay additional N55 billion on Dec. 31, 2018 and a balance of N55 billion is expected to be paid on March 31, 2019.