MTN Hires Ex U.S Attorney General Heric Holder To Fight $3.9billion Fine For Illegally Operating Unregistered Lines

Information filtering in revealed multinational telecommunication company, MTN is planning big to fight the huge fine imposed by industry regulator Nigerian Communications Communication for breach of operational guidelines.

According to emerging details

MTN Group has hired a former United States Attorney –General, Eric Holder, to help
Ex U.S Attorney General Heric Holder
challenge a $3.9 billion fine imposed by Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for failing to disconnect unregistered users.

Citing people familiar with the situation, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Holder pleaded with Nigerian officials last month on behalf of MTN.

Africa’s largest mobile phone company was handed a $5.2 billion penalty in October, prompting weeks of lobbying that led to a 25 percent reduction to $3.9 billion, Reuters reported.

MTN, however, was still not prepared to pay the fine and launched a court challenge in December, saying the NCC had no legal grounds to order the penalty.

A judge in Lagos had last month gave MTN until March 18 to reach a settlement on the fine, which equates to more than twice MTN’s annual average capital spending over the past five years.

MTN spokesman, Chris Maroleng, was not immediately available to comment on latest development, Reuters added

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