Telecom
When Will Enough be Enough for MTN Nigeria? — By Olayiwola Luqman, FCA
The history of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (MTN Nigeria) is replete with controversies and litigation unlike other players in the telecom sector. Some might argue MTN’s size naturally attracts its issues. This would, however, be too easy a way out of truly analyzing its issues.
Others would argue upon review, that it is more about its attitude to Nigeria and Nigerians, in other words, the Big Man syndrome, that is the catalyst for its issues. Since inception, MTN has hobbled from issue to issue. It has won some, lost others and settled some.
The company seems to relish in courting what many refer to as ‘needless controversies’, the outcome of which is the toga of arrogance that it adorns in seeking positions only beneficial to itself and seemingly disregarding government and regulatory positions, the impact of its actions on Nigeria and Nigerians as well as other non-altruistic positions.
One may strive to seek to understand a start-up company’s choice of courting controversies as a means of creating awareness and corporate presence but for a company like MTN Nigeria that is about to celebrate its silver jubilee, one would have thought that it should be weary of unnecessary controversies. This is, however, not the story of MTN Nigeria, unfortunately.
Currently, the company is in a court battle instituted against it, its business partner, ATC Nigeria Wireless Infrastructure Limited (ATC Nigeria), and three other bodies, by the Incorporated Trustees of HEDA Resources Centre (HEDA) over the construction of 2,500 base trans-receiver stations across Nigeria for MTN’s operations. HEDA a civil society group, has gone to court to stop MTN Nigeria and ATC Nigeria from siting new base stations where there are already existing base stations citing health and environmental concerns. The case with suit No: FHC/L/CS/2359/2023, was filed in the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, on 20 November 2023 and is still pending before the court.
In October 2015, MTN Nigeria’s arrogance and disregard of the country’s laws got it enmeshed in a regulatory quagmire resulting to a fine of N1.04 trillion (about $5.2 billion) against it, for the failure to disconnect 5.1 million unregistered subscribers from its network. Its imprudence did not end there but extended to the point where it was alleged to have bribed a senior government official so the fine could be reduced.
In yet another instance, MTN Nigeria shunned Nigerians’ calls for the adoption of per-second billing as its sister subsidiaries in other climes deployed and kept insisting, for many years, that such deployment was impracticable in Nigeria. The fleecing of Nigerians by MTN Nigeria continued until Glo Mobile debunked MTN Nigeria’s denials in 2003 and debuted with per-second billing. Even when the industry regulator, NCC insisted that it deploy per-second billing, MTN Nigeria was reluctant in its compliance and went so far as to illegally charge subscribers who wanted to migrate to that platform the sum of N100 each.
A look at MTN Nigeria’s over two-decade operations in Nigeria also reveals a series of corporate governance issues, including tax defaults, illegal repatriations of profits and other corporate vices. In 2018, the Federal Government, following a ten-year “revenue assets investigation” conducted between 2007 and 2017, accused MTN Nigeria of having some liabilities which included alleged unpaid/underpaid import duties of about N242.25 billion as well as withholding and value-added taxes of about $1.3 billion. Last year, a tax appeal tribunal sitting in Lagos ordered MTN Nigeria to pay $72,551,059 in tax default to the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS).
What beats most people’s imaginations is that while other subsidiaries in the MTN Group operating in other markets have had issues (Iran and Afghanistan come to mind with the very serious allegations against them), they largely seem to be responsible corporate citizens in their countries of operation. MTN Nigeria, on the other hand, tends to be roguish and more hawkish in its operations. Its services are poor, yet they appear the most expensive in Nigeria.
These issues could only be as a result of arrogance believing that, by appointing eminent Nigerians who have headed regulatory bodies with oversight over its activities to the Board of Directors of the company, it would always be able to bulldoze its path by way of influence peddling through any regulatory issue. It is worthy of note that some notable civil society groups in the country have petitioned the relevant regulatory agencies to investigate these Board appointments, citing corporate governance as well as conflict of interest issues.
The company needs to reevaluate its operations in the country with a view to respecting the law and regulatory authorities as well as having more regard for Nigerians, whose patronage earns it the position of the largest revenue earner in the MTN Group. Nigerians deserve a better deal with MTN Nigeria and the Nigerian government is supposed to stand up and ensure that this happens by insisting on good corporate governance, without being swayed or intimidated by the company or the people that sit on its board.
– Olayiwola Luqman, FCA. Business analyst, writes from Lagos*
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have finalized a consumer protection framework to swiftly resolve complaints from failed airtime and data purchases caused by network outages, system errors, or user mistakes.
NCC, CBN
Developed after months of consultations with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Value Added Service (VAS) providers, Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), and other stakeholders, the framework responds to surging reports of debits without service delivery and prolonged resolution delays.
It unites telecom and financial sectors by pinpointing root causes—like debits without service credits—and enforces a Service Level Agreement (SLA) defining roles for all parties in transactions and refunds.
Key provisions include refunds within 30 seconds for debited but undelivered airtime or data (extendable to 24 hours for pending cases), mandatory SMS notifications on transaction status, and remedies for errors such as recharges to ported numbers, wrong purchases, or misdirected transactions.
NCC Consumer Affairs Director, Mrs. Freda Bruce-Bennett, highlighted a new Central Monitoring Dashboard, co-hosted by NCC and CBN, for real-time tracking of failures, culprits, refunds, and SLA violations.
“Failed top-ups are among the top three consumer complaints. True to our mandate, we prioritized a rapid solution,” she stated.
Bruce-Bennett thanked stakeholders, especially CBN leadership, noting that MNOs and banks have already refunded over N10 billion pending formal approval.
Implementation begins March 1, 2026, following regulator approvals and technical integrations by MNOs, VAS providers, and DMBs.
National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) has announced the launch of an Inter-Agency Innovation Competition and Awards to stimulate creativity and technological advancement among Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government.
NASENI
In a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, NASENI said the initiative was designed to harness innovative ideas from public servants that can drive indigenous industrialization, job creation and national progress.
According to the agency, the competition will provide a platform for MDAs to propose solutions in critical sectors such as health, agriculture, education and infrastructure, leveraging science and technology to improve public service delivery and enhance the quality of life for Nigerians.
“The competition seeks to promote collaboration and creativity among MDAs while addressing pressing national challenges through innovation,” the statement said.
NASENI urged interested MDAs to submit their entries through its innovation portal at naseni.gov.ng/innovation.
The agency reiterated its statutory mission “to develop and maintain a dynamic infrastructure to drive Nigeria’s indigenous industrialization, job creation and national progress,” adding that the competition would further strengthen efforts to unlock the nation’s potential through science and technology.
Users of satellite internet service provider Starlink in Nigeria are being required to complete a biometric Know Your Customer (KYC) process as a precondition to continue enjoying their services, according to .biometricupdate.
According to local reports, more than 66,000 Starlink subscribers in the country had a December 31 ultimatum from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to complete the biometric verification or have their connection discontinued.
The process essentially entails linking a Starlkink account with the subscriber’s national digital ID.
The NCC, which is Nigeria’s telecoms industry regulator, is said to have first issued the directive in August last year, setting a three-month deadline which was to elapse on November 19, TechCabal reports.
The body however later extended it to December 31 after consultations with industry stakeholders. The internet account-NIN linkage, the NCC said, is to enhance identity verification and strengthen security within the country’s telecoms space.
Just a few days to the December 31 deadline, Starlink’s Nigeria office sent an email to its subscribers reminding them of the KYC requirement, and warned that all those who fail to comply would be disconnected.
And that once disconnected, reconnection would depend on network capacity in the concerned area.
The service provider said in its email that the process takes less than two minutes and users can complete it by logging in to their account via an app.
One user, quoted by TechCabal, said one needs to upload their selfie biometrics, provide their national identification number (NIN) and then give their consent for the account to be linked to their ID information.
Starlink’s internet service is present in about 155 countries with nine million users, as of 2025. Its growth in Nigeria is said to be rapid, making it the second largest internet service provider in the country, according to The Traffic.
Biometric identification for Starlink subscribers could become a continent-wide trend given that some countries have expressed reservations in opening up their internet space to the company over security concerns.
There’ve been fears that jihadists in countries like Mali and Nigeria may have exploited Starlink terminals to coordinate terror operations, and cybersecurity experts have also warned of risks related to weak regulation, digital sovereignty and data breaches.
The requirement for Starlink internet users to have their accounts linked with the NIN is similar to the SIM-NIN linkage policy which the Nigerian government battled to implement for many years, with many deadline extensions.
In October last year, the NCC, which is was at the forefront of the policy implementation, announced that all active SIM cards across all network providers had complied with the directive which was issued in 2020.
The idea, the federal government argued, was to strengthen security and curb criminality such as kidnappings which are aided and abetted by improperly identified mobile phone numbers.
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