The \u200bKaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has \u200bdenied claims he instigated the spat between MTN Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).<\/p>\n
The governor also disassociated himself from any equity holdings, either directly or through proxy in Etisalat and Jabi Mall in Abuja, Nigeria\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, had fined MTN Nigeria a staggering N1.04 trillion ($5.2 billion) for failing to disconnect 5.1 million unregistered subscribers.<\/p>\n
Following the fine imposed on the company, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Sifiso Dabengwa, resigned on November 9.<\/p>\n
His spokesman, Muyiwa Adekeye, said it was the Nigerian governors forum that unanimously moved a motion for consideration \u200bof the matter \u200bby the federal government after listening to the presentation of the executive vice chairman of NCC, Umar Dambatta, during the Nigerian Governors\u2019 Forum meeting held on November 18.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NGF does not have constitutional, regulatory or enforcement powers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIts motion is purely advisory and strongly supportive of the NCC and the need to uphold regulatory rulings properly issued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NGF appreciated that a reduction of such a fine not only create moral hazard but subject to even wilder interpretations on how it was procured.<\/p>\n
\u201cApart from encouraging state institutions to uphold rules, state governors have direct beneficial interest in ensuring that additional revenues accrue to the federation account for the benefit of the three tiers of government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the greater public interest which motivated the unanimous passage of the motion by the governors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NGF does not have constitutional, regulatory or enforcement powers. Its motion is purely advisory and strongly supportive of the NCC and the need to uphold regulatory rulings properly issued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NGF appreciated that a reduction of such a fine not only create moral hazard but subject to even wilder interpretations on how it was procured.<\/p>\n
\u201cApart from encouraging state institutions to uphold rules, state governors have direct beneficial interest in ensuring that additional revenues accrued to the federation account for the benefit of the three tiers of government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the greater public interest which motivated the unanimous passage of the motion by the governors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr. El-Rufai however acknowledged participating actively in the discussions, stressing that he even helped modify the motion that was eventually adopted.<\/p>\n
\u201cEl-Rufai believes that Nigerians will see beyond the attempt to insert him into a purely regulatory issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cEl-Rufai is not the NCC and did not author the rules that were breached; neither did he encourage one out of several telecommunication companies to breach a regulation of national\u200b security significance,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The \u200bKaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has \u200bdenied claims he instigated the spat between MTN Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The governor also disassociated himself from any equity…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n