Mobile communication firm, MTN, has denied a report by Sahara Reporters that it gave N500million to Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, to reduce the N1.4tr fine slammed on it by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) in October 2015.
The fine, which was imposed over the company’s failure to deactivate unregistered sim cards after an August 2015 deadline, was eventually reduced to N330bn in June 2015 after months of tussle and negotiations.
Sahara Reporters, however, alleged in a recent report that “President Muhammad Buhari has received concrete evidence that his Chief of Staff (CoS), Abba Kyari, took N500m from operators of MTN to help the telecommunications giant mitigate the fine imposed on it by the federal government.”
In a statement made available to Qed.ng on Friday morning, the company said “its attention has been drawn to an online report alleging that a top official in the Presidency took a payment ‘from operators of MTN’ towards reducing the fine.”
It was silent on the name of the official accused of collecting the money.
“According to MTN Nigeria CEO, Ferdi Moolman, MTN Nigeria has no knowledge of this and the allegation is therefore denied. The MTN Nigeria fine was ultimately settled with the NCC,” the statement concluded.
