Adebayo Shittu, Nigeria’s communications minister, yesterday said the NGN780 billion fine slammed on MTN by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) was slashed to N330 billion in order to attract investors and give businesses confidence to invest more. The minister disclosed this while playing host to Nigeria’s Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Yusuf Burutai.
“The MTN issue is an over-flogged issue as far as I am concerned. If anything, Nigerians should be happy that the matter has been laid to rest once and for all. The reduction was done in the interest of Nigeria,” Shittu said.
He noted that Nigeria needs the private sector to thrive just as the private sector also needs the country.
“We in government do not want to kill any business. All the decisions that have been taken on the MTN issue are on the best interest of Nigeria and Nigerians,” Shittu added.
Responding, Burutai said plans are underway to restore telecoms services to disconnected towns and villages in the North-east. To facilitate this, he said the Nigerian is working with telecoms operators to rebuild facilities destroyed by insurgents.
He asked for collaboration with the communications ministry on the deployment of latest technologies to track criminals in the country. He expressed the readiness of the military to partner with the communications ministry on satellite communications.
