MTN Clarifies Alleged Fund Repatriation

MTN Nigeria has said that no dividends were declared or paid until its Certificates of Capital Importation (CCIs) were issued and finalised.

Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mr. Ferdi Moolman made the disclosure while clarifying on the alleged repatriation of funds out of Nigeria adding that

 MTN Nigeria only requested for CCIs for Foreign Capital that was imported into Nigeria, and dividends were externalised on CCIs.

He said that it is not possible to issue a CCI within 24 hours, and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Forex Manual contemplates such situations by asking that the banks refer to the CBN for approval saying that the requirement to issue a CCI within 24 hours of conversion is an administrative requirement.

“As such, the CBN has the authority, and indeed we believe, approved the banks’ applications to issue CCIs outside the recommended time frame,” concluded Moolman.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Communications Commission has refuted claims that some of its officials were bribed in the negotiation and on-going settlement of the N330 Billion fine the agency slammed on GSM network provider, MTN Nigeria.

Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, of the commission, Abdullahi Maikano debunked the claims in Effurun, Uvwien council area, Delta state where the telecoms regulator held its 22nd Consumer Town Hall Meeting.

Represented by his deputy, Dr Femi Atoyebi on the occasion, Maikano said: “no NCC official was bribed. I repeat, nobody bribed any NCC official on that MTN fine issue, quote me. NCC is a very responsible organization under quality leadership which cascades down to the least of staff.

“No NCC staff will ever take bribe. Challenge me if you see one. That allegation is not true. You read in the papers what MTN has done, they have paid some amount and they are to pay the rest by instalments. So, that case is actually settled.”

On the recurring consumer complaints of unsolicited SMS and poor network among other concerns against service providers, Maikano noted that the continued town hall meetings to bridge and bring telecoms consumers with operators and the regulator are providing gainful results in gradually resolving the complaints by users.

“It’s not true that NCC has not been doing anything about complaints. The town hall meetings are not jamborees. Everything going on here is being recorded and we will played. We do a comprehensive report and make recommendations on every outing to management.

“Some of the policies you see being rolled out by NCC emanate from reports from meetings like these. The consumers are the target beneficiaries of all our activities which make them enjoy primary focus in ensuring that they get quality of service, value for money and timely and fair redress of complaints.”