Nigeria loses court bid to freeze MTN’s accounts
Johannesburg - A Nigerian court has ruled that MTN [JSE:MTN] can transfer money out of the country amid an impending legal battle over a multi-billion dollar fine.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) slapped MTN with a $5.2bn fine in October last year for failing to disconnect five million unregistered SIM cards in the country in a timely manner.
Subsequently, the regulator reduced the fine to $3.9bn and set a deadline of December 31 2015 for MTN to pay the penalty.
But in mid-December, MTN then said it planned to legally challenge the fine because it viewed the regulator as overreaching its powers. MTN has also not paid the fine yet as it awaits the outcome of its legal challenge.
Amid the upcoming legal challenge, Nigeria’s attorney general and minister of justice filed an application this week at the Federal High Court in Lagos seeking to halt MTN from transferring its funds out of 21 banks the country.
The attorney general expressed concern that MTN could move funds out of the country before the fine was paid, reported Nigeria’s This Day newspaper.
However, Justice Idris Mohammed turned down the application, citing a lack of facts to prove that MTN planned to exit funds out the country, according to This Day.
Justice Mohammed further ruled that the parties must maintain a status quo pending MTN’s legal challenge. He also adjourned the case to January 22 for hearing, reported This Day.
MTN Group’s executive for group corporate affairs Chris Maroleng told Fin24 that the company was not willing to comment yet on matters regarding its legal challenge in Nigeria.
