Daily Watch – MTN hit with huge fine, Okowa remains on seat in Delta
27th October 2015
- The Nigerian Communications Commission has fined MTN a record
N1.04 trillion after Nigeria’s largest telecoms firm failed to comply with a directive to deactivate unregistered phone lines before a deadline. The NCC said that all other telecom firms operating in Nigeria had complied with the directive. The regulator said MTN has not denied the infraction and that its enforcement team deactivated 5.2 million unregistered lines to ensure compliance. MTN was finedN200,000 for each of the 5.1 million customers that were disconnected. The MTN fine is the largest corporate fine ever imposed by a regulator in any sector of the Nigerian economy. - In Delta state, the Governorship Elections Petition Tribunal has dismissed the challenge by Great Ogboru, who represented the Labour Party in April’s governorship elections. The tribunal, headed by Justice Nasir Gunmi, gave the ruling in Asaba, amidst accusations that Okowa’s supporters already knew what was coming and were jubilating on Sunday. The judgement, which affirmed the election of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, will come as a relief to the People’s Democratic Party, who have taken hits in Akwa Ibom and Rivers state recently with elections to be repeated in both states.
- The Federal Government has started deducting electricity bills owed by MDAs to electricity distribution companies (DisCos) from source. Although the Managing Director of Eko Electricity Distribution Company, Dr. Oladele Amoda, couldn’t say exactly how much the government has been able to recover for the DisCos, he confirmed that government has started deducting the debt from MDAs. The Executive Director, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Sunday Oduntan, had announced that MDAs and the military owe the 11 DisCos a total of
N32 billion during a crisis meeting which was presided over by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.