The case has been adjourned until mid-March to allow the disputing parties reach an agreement after the court hearing on Friday morning, MTN said in a statement. “There have been concessions in the past and nothing happened”, Okpeseyi noted.
Advertisement
MTN’s lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), said parties were exploring settlement options.
Justice Idris, in a short ruling, held that all the preliminary objections and substantive applications shall be taken together while all the processes filed shall be deemed as properly filed and served.
The presiding judge adjourned the case till March 18 following MTN’s request.
MTN missed the deadline to deactivate its unregistered subscribers, prompting a 200,000-naira ($1,000) fine for each unregistered SIM.
Joined as co-respondent in the suit is the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice..
The telecoms company contended that NCC being a regulator, can not assume all the functions of the state on its own.
It’s been argued that the commission does not have the authority to impose the fine, as it can not be the judge in the matter and then benefit from the fine.
In December, MTN announced their decision to contest the decision by the FGN enforcing the payment of the penalty on the last day of the year 2015.
Advertisement
Earlier this month, MTN scored a victory in court when it persuaded a local judge to prevent the Nigerian government from freezing its bank accounts, Quartz reported.
