The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, yesterday disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari will soon announce his decision on the N1.04trillion fine imposed on MTN Nigeria by the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC.

Speaking at the Alliance 4 Affordable Internet Nigeria Coalition conference in Lagos, he said that the fine on MTN was not in any way personal but “in the interest of the public.”

Shittu disclosed that MTN admitted that it was wrong and had apologised.

“I don’t think there is any conflicting position on
where government stands on the MTN issue. Recall
that there were violations which were established
against MTN.

“The violations were to the tune of five million
subscribers. There are many countries where
subscribers, in the entire country, are not up to half
of the five million. In the case of Nigeria, we had
more than five million violations.

“However, both the government and MTN are on the
same page that rules have been broken in this
instance.

“The issue is now before Mr President. He will take
the necessary decision at the appropriate time. And
the President would do what is best for the public
interest,“ the Minister said.

“The good thing is that MTN did not contest the fact
that they had violated the regulations and guidelines.

They never contested it. They admitted they were at
fault.

“They apologized for their role in the saga and they
made a commitment that what happened will never
happen again. And of course, they made a plea for
review of the payment terms,” he said.