Minister Warns Against MTN Exit From Nigeria

THE Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu has warned against actions that are capable of making MTN Nigeria, the largest telecommunications company in the country and the network with the widest coverage to exit the country, particularly the investigations into the alleged illegal money transfers by the National Assemble.

 

The minister, who expressed over possible implications of the exit on the economy considering it’s over $1 billion, said that "Nobody will say that MTN is not important to Nigeria-we must encourage them, we must not scare them away from Nigeria." 

Shittu told Reuters in an interview, that "The presumption is that they are innocent and we pray they remain innocent. They must stay."

 According to reports by Bloomberg MTN illegally moved $14 billion out of Nigeria quoting statements by  lawmakers who also accused MTN of moving money out of Nigeria since 2006 to avoid paying tax.

 

Lawmaker Dino Melaye brought the matter to the senate on Sept. 27, according to Bloomberg. Melaye alleged that four banks helped MTN move the money: Citigroup, Standard Chartered, and Nigerian lenders Stanbic IBTC Holdings and Diamond Bank. The senate confirmed in a tweet that it would be investigating the matter.

But MTN Nigeria CEO Ferdi Moolman said in a statement on September. 28, 2016 that “The allegations made against MTN are completely unfounded and without any merit.” 

MTN said that it complied with Nigerian fund transfer rules and did not send money out of the country until it obtained regulatory approvals, denying allegations that it illegally repatriated $14 billion.

MTN requested "certificates of capital importation (CCI)" for capital brought into Nigeria and dividends were repatriated based on those investments, Ferdi Moolman, chief executive of MTN Nigeria, said in a statement.

"MTN Nigeria only requested for CCIs for foreign capital that was imported into Nigeria, and dividends were externalised on CCIs," he said.

The allegations come months after MTN settled a $1.7 billion fine with Nigerian communications regulators over unregistered SIM cards. In August, parent company the MTN Group reported disappointing interim results, posting a loss of 271 cents a share.