Less than a week after a Nigerian Senator accused MTN of transferring 14 billion Dollars from Nigeria without due process, the company has come out with an official statement to refute the allegation.
In a statement signed by Ferdi Moolman, MTN Nigeria CEO, he referred to the allegation as untrue and unfounded.
“The allegations made against MTN are completely unfounded and without any merit,” he said.
Senator Dino Melaye, a member of the Nigerian Senate has openly alledged that with the connivance of a particular serving minister in the federal cabinet, the said amount was moved to a bank account in New York using the name of a company registered in Mauritius.
At a session in Abuja today, the Senate has unanimously called for an investigation in the matter. MTN has not fully paid off a record fine of NGN330 billion issued against it by the Nigerian government after it was accused of not deactivating about 5 million mobile lines, an act the government claimed jeopardised its fight on terror in the North East.
To further get a soft landing going forward, MTN had put in motion steps to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE. The company had appointed Stanbic IBTC Capital and other foreign investment bankers to be its advisers in the transactions.
The IPO is expected to happen in the first quarter of 2017. It is unclear if this matter can degenerate into a crisis that would throw a spanner in the works of a plan that excited the markets when it was announced in July.
MTN is also facing serious revenue squeeze more than ever before. In its half year result, MTN posted its first ever loss per share in its 24 years of operations. The company was reported three weeks ago to be looking at selling debt to raise funds in paying shareholders and settle its Nigerian fine.
