Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, has stated that he did not strike any secret deal with MTN Nigeria over the payment of N780billion fine imposed by the NCC.
A statement Wednesday by his media aide, Victor Oluwadamilare, said it was untrue that Nigerian Government sidelined its own regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) by striking a secret deal with MTN.
“Contrary to the innuendoes based on jaundiced reasoning, there was no negotiation of any kind by the Communications Minister and the MTN over the fine regime imposed on it by the NCC.
“Rather, the whole theatrics of going to Court, ostensibly to buy time and escape the December 31, 2015 deadline, wanting an out-of-court settlement and the eventual payment of N50 billion as down payment were all decisions freely taken by the MTN without any prompting from Barrister Adebayo Shittu”.
The statement clarified that no money was paid to the coffers of the ministry.
“This is not the practice since the ministry does not collect money on behalf of any of its agencies,” it added.
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