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Tag: MTN

  • MTN breaks silence, speaks on NLC’s picketing, alleged casualisation of workers

    MTN breaks silence, speaks on NLC’s picketing, alleged casualisation of workers

    The Human Resource Executive of MTN Nigeria, Esther Akinnukawe, has denied that the telecommunications company engaged casual employees.

    “We do not have casual employees in MTN; I am not aware that MTN engages in casualisation.

    “The company partners with `service providers’ to recruit workers,’’ Akinnukawe told journalists on Wednesday on the third day of MTN picketing by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

    She fielded questions from journalists in Lagos at the MTN Nigeria Headquarters, Falomo, Ikoyi, Lagos, which has been under lock and key due to the picketing.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NLC accused MTN of employing workers on casual basis.

    The organised labour also alleged that the company prevented its employees from belonging to unions.

    Akinnukawe told journalists that outsourcing was being mistaken for casualisation, adding that all MTN workers were full-fledged staff.

    She said that NLC should dialogue with `service providers’ on how to resolve any employment issue.

    According to the official, use of `service providers’ in employment was in line with international best practices.

    The human resources executive said that the Ministry of Labour and Employment licensed operations of such service providers.

    Meanwhile, the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, has denied the allegation that the congress destroyed MTN property while picketing the multinational company.

    “We do not intend to do so, as that is not our objective. We are clear about our objectives, and we shall not allow anything to distract us.

    “We are responsible workers and alive to our responsibilities,’’ he told journalists on the third day of the picketing in Lagos.

    He said that NLC had been peaceful and orderly in the picketing.

    The labour leader urged MTN Nigeria to respect workers’ right to freely associate, in line with constitutional provisions, adding that the congress was committed to ensuring freedom of association for Nigerian workers.

    Wabba had on Monday said: “In MTN, all the workers are casual, they have no right to social protection; they are not allowed to freely bargain for a better work condition.

    “A worker is sacked after working for about three to four months. The worker is asked to reapply. This is unfair, and we will not continue to allow it.’’

    He said that the NLC, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), relevant unions and MTN management from from South Africa held a bilateral meeting in Abuja but could not reach an agreement.

    “NLC told MTN to respect Nigeria labour laws but they refused; that is why workers are impoverished. We do not expect this treatment because it is a multinational company,’’ he said.

    The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) had in a statement in Lagos alleged that the picketing was an intentional attempt to frustrate efforts to provide seamless telecommunications.

    ATCON alleged in the statement signed by its Executive Secretary, Ajibola Olude, that NLC was violent in the picketing.

    “ATCON thinks if NLC wants to do anything at all, it should have peacefully carried out its picketing.

    “Our members are law-abiding corporate organisations that have been contributing to the wealth of Nigeria,’’ it said.

  • 48 hours after leaving home, ex-MTN worker’s corpse found

    48 hours after leaving home, ex-MTN worker’s corpse found

    The Bauchi State Police Command has recovered the corpse of a former MTN worker, Benjamin Sule, who was found dead two days after leaving his house.

    The police said they had launched an investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the disappearance and death of Benjamin.

    The indigene of Apa Local Government Area of Benue reportedly left his house located at Rafin Makaranta opposite the School of Armour in Bauchi on July 1, 2018 to see a group of persons who called him from Gwallameji area of the state before he was found dead, Punch reports.

    The deceased’s elder brother, who is a security guard at MTN office in Bauchi, Friday, said he had been calling Benjamin’s number for two days without response.

    Friday added that he decided to visit his house but was told by his neighbours that he had not returned to the house for two days.

    He said that the following day, he lodged a complaint at the Yelwa Police Division and later got a call from the police in the evening that a dead body had been found at a hill behind the Federal Polytechnic Students’ village called Gwallameji.

    He was asked to come and identify if it was his brother.

    “When I got to the police station, I was shown a picture of my brother’s corpse lying on a stone at the hill. Immediately I saw the picture, I recognised him and told the police he was the one that was missing for two days,” Friday said.

    It was gathered from one of his neighbours who spoke on condition of anonymity that someone called the deceased on his phone earlier to tell him to meet him at Gwallameji.

    “On that fateful Sunday evening, he told my elder sister that some persons called him at Gwallameji, that he was going to see them. He even collected her battery and put it inside his phone because he had low battery. He told her that he did not want the people to think he switched off his phone, that was why he borrowed my sister’s phone battery,” she stated.

    The Police Public Relations Officer, Bauchi State Police Command, Kamal Abubakar, said that on July 4, the police attached to Yelwa Division received information that they saw a dead body lying down on top of the hill.

    Abubabakar, a Deputy Superintendent of Police said, “On receiving the information, a team of policemen rushed to the scene and removed the dead body to Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Teaching Hospital for autopsy to ascertain the actual cause of death. No mark of violence was seen on his body.”

    He added that the police had launched investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.

  • NLC shutdowns MTN offices nationwide over alleged stringent policies

    NLC shutdowns MTN offices nationwide over alleged stringent policies

    The Nigeria Labour Congress on Monday disrupted activities of MTN Nigeria in protest against non-unionisation of its workers.

    The leadership of the union and other members barricaded the head office of the company in Lagos on Monday for about eight hours, preventing workers from carrying out their daily duties.

    The protesters, led by the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, gained access into the MTN office in Lagos around 6am and reportedly replicated the labour action simultaneously nationwide.

    Ayuba said the picketing was a follow-up to the Oct 7, 2017 picketing of MTN office in Abuja.

    “There are a lot of anti-labour practices which the company is practising among which is that they have denied the workers to freedom of association and denied them the right to collective bargaining. No violence was recorded; it was very peaceful,” he said.

    The Lagos State NLC Chairman, Idowu Adelakun, said the union would picket Glo, Airtel and 9mobile as well, for their refusal to allow workers to join the labour movement.

    He said the action at MTN offices would continue until workers in the company were allowed to join the labour union and new executive members elected.

    “Anywhere we see that workers have been denied their rights to be unionised, we know those companies are not prepared to negotiate any good wages for the workers. If MTN had responded, we would have stopped the action today. We will continue to be there until they listen to the voice of the people,” Adelakun said.

    MTN Nigeria, in a statement signed by its Corporate Relations Executive, Tobechukwu Okigbo, registered its displeasure at the destruction of its property.

    He added that the company was not against freedom of association as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution.

    He said, “Today’s violence and the needless destruction of property are deeply saddening. As always our primary concern is the safety and well-being of our employees, some of whom were attacked by supposed NLC operatives and have sustained injuries.

    “We do not prevent our employees from associating amongst themselves as they deem fit and owe our employees the obligation to ensure they are not compelled to join associations. MTN supports the freedom of association as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.

    “All workers have rights that should be protected. We work hard to not only ensure that this is done but also that our company is a great place to work. We will continue to champion our peoples’ rights, whether they are part of a union or not and work hard to minimise disruptions in service to our customers.”

     

  • Telecoms: NCC must avoid monopoly with Visafone spectrum transfer

    There is a greater need for the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to tread with caution in order to avoid monopoly with the Visafone spectrum transfer to MTN Nigeria.

    Given that the current MTN/Visafone spectrum transfer has raised issues among telcos operators in Nigeria, it becomes imperative that the NCC reached an informed decision to avoid monopolizing the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry.

    TheNewsGuru recalls the regulatory commission held a public enquiry in this regards on the 25th of June 2018; however, it is more imperative to properly cross the Is and dot the Ts if the NCC must reach an informed decision to avoiding monopoly.

    It is commendable that overtime the NCC has put in place certain guidelines to regulate telecommunication operations in the country.

    The June public enquiry was necessitated by the question of whether NCC should or should not transfer Visafone’s license and spectrum to MTN Nigeria Communications Limited.

    At a public hearing in Abuja recently, 9mobile and Airtel argued that transferring Visafone’s 800 Megahertz spectrum would concentrate 38 per cent spectrum available in the country on MTN and thereby give the company undue advantage to further dominate the Nigerian telecommunications market.

    TheNewsGuru also recalls that on the 7th of December 2015, the NCC granted MTN Nigeria final approval for the acquisition of 100% equity in Visafone. In 2016, Visafone sought NCC’s approval to transfer its operating and spectrum licenses to MTN to ensure the optimal use of its spectrum holdings.

    Although the NCC had approved the acquisition deal, it has yet to approve the transfer of the frequency and license to MTN, even as 9mobile had gone to court to challenge the transfer of the frequency to MTN.

    According to the Nigerian National Broadband Plan and the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, NCC can issue spectrum licenses, and has such powers to reallocate or reissue. It also has powers to recall an unused spectrum license which has remained unused for 2 years, and reallocate to another client.

    As at May 2018, MTN has over 50% revenue market share and 66.4mn subscribers representing 41% subscriber market share in the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry. It also has robust Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) margin of ~50% which underscores its capacity to undertake massive network investment compared to other telcos with less than 30% EBITDA Margin.

    Furthermore, the NCC in its study on the level of competition in selected communications market in 2013 declared MTN a Dominant Operator in Mobile Voice Market and Joint Dominant Operator alongside Glo in the Wholesale Leased Lines and Transmission Capacity sub-segment. This is also in addition to its interest in IHS, Colocation and Infrastructure Sharing Licensee with the highest number of towers in the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry.

    Stakeholders concerns in this matter, considering MTN’s size, resources under its control, even without the 800MHz band, and its dominance status in both voice mobile and wholesale leased lines and transmission capacity segments of the industry, the proposed transfer of license and resources including the 800MHz spectrum from Visafone would not only increase MTN’s market power but will substantially lessen competition in the Mobile Voice Market and Mobile Data Market segments of the industry, which could lead to MTN becoming a monopoly.

    This is because, other telcos, including the top 3 operators, will not be able to compete, as the proposed transfer will enable MTN to grow from dominance into a monopoly, thereby distorting the competitive landscape in the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry.

    MTN through the proposed transfer of license and resources including the 800MHz spectrum from Visafone to MTN is intended to unnecessarily amass and reserve spectrum bandwidth capacity at the detriment of other players in the industry.

    It is pertinent to state that the 800MHz spectrum band has been identified as the most ideal and suitable for the deployment of mobile broadband due to its characteristics to traverse farther distance and support mobile broadband rollout at optimal cost (~25% CAPEX) compared to 2.6GHz spectrum band.

    It is critical to mention that the proposed transfer of the aforementioned resources from Visafone to MTN will enable MTN to be the only operator among the top 4 pan-Nigeria operators holding this prime spectrum band.

    The National Broadband Plan (2013-2018) had intended that the digital dividend band will be relinquished by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and transferred to the NCC for mobile broadband services. MTN had, however, earlier engaged and acquired 10MHz bandwidth capacity on the 700MHz spectrum band from the NBC. The transaction was conducted in a closed and non-transparent manner which is disadvantageous to other interested operators.

    MTN had earlier opposed similar acquisition in South Africa. It is, therefore, sane to query the justification of its bid to replicate what it rejected in South Africa. If that acquisition is not good for South Africa, why is it good for Nigeria?

    Spectrum is the same all over the world, and in the UK, the regulator places a cap on the amount of spectrum an operator can buy. Also in India, there is a cap on the volume of spectrum that can be acquired and held by a particular operator. This needs to be introduced to the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry to avoid spectrum hoarding at the detriment of other stakeholders in the industry.

    There is need to ensure balanced investment and control of prime resources in order to build other strong players apart from MTN in the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry.

    In line with international best practice for Mergers and Acquisition, NCC should consider conducting an assessment of the impact of the transfer of the License and other resources including the 800MHz spectrum from Visafone to MTN taking into consideration inputs from other industry players likely to be affected by the transaction.

    Example of such is the EU Merger Regulation 2004 and the United Kingdom Enterprise and Regulatory Act 2013 which provides detailed steps on the test to be conducted by a Regulator with regards to this kind of transaction.

    NCC recently published Spectrum Trading Guidelines intended to ensure optimal utilization of this finite resource and create a secondary market for spectrum transfer, spectrum leasing and spectrum sharing. The Guidelines further specify conditions to be met by both the Buyer and Seller in order to enter into Spectrum Trading arrangement.

    In line with general principles of law, the guideline cannot be applied retrospectively towards the regularization a pre-existing transaction, which in this instance is between Visafone and MTN.

    The same guideline stated that if in the considered opinion of the Commission, a transaction will negatively impact on competition and other regulatory considerations, the Commission may at its discretion conduct a Public or Private Inquiry in respect of an application for Spectrum Trading.

    NCC at this junction should consider all other stakeholders’ concerns to review their stand to see that monopoly should not be allowed.

    If MTN is given the access to the 800 MHz spectrum band which will enable it to provide 4G LTE services and apparently place it in an enviable position of being the only GSM operator with access to this spectrum, it will thereby increase their chances of becoming a monopoly in the industry.

    As much as NCC plan to surpass the 30 per cent penetration target set for 2018, critical consideration of the spectrum should be well reviewed.

    In view of the above, NCC should consider not to transfer the license and resources including the 800MHz from Visafone to MTN in order not to distort the competitive landscape in the industry.

    Way Forward:

    a) Enforcement of Licence Conditions: The NCC is invited to take necessary measures toward enforcing the terms and conditions of the licence issued to other telcos on the 800MHz frequency band. Given its uniqueness to effectively support pervasive rollout of high-quality mobile broadband services at minimal cost, it is critical for the NCC to ensure its optimal utilization. The NCC should exert pressure on current occupants on the band to either meet rollout obligations or sell, lease or share with other interested telcos within a particular timeframe failing which such assignment will be withdrawn and reassigned to licensees. This is a critical issue deserving immediate attention of the NCC to facilitate the attainment of the targets of the National Broadband Plan (2013-2018).

    b) Engagement with NFMC/NBC: In accordance with the provisions of the National Broadband Plan, the NCC is further invited to engage the National Frequency Management Council and the National Broadcasting Commission to revoke and invalidate every frequency assignments on the 700MHz carried out in a closed and non-transparent manner, so as to ensure fairness and equity in the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry. The NCC will be required to subsequently conduct a competitive auction on the reallocated digital dividend frequency slots to interested licensees.

    It is believed that the NCC as a forthright and proactive National Regulatory Body will take necessary measures to ensure level playing field in the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry to avoid creating a monopoly in the interest of the nation.

     

  • MTN, Glo, Airtel to increase data, call tariffs

    Nigerians may soon begin to pay higher tariffs on calls and data as the telecommunications companies in the country brace up for a new cyber security levy to be implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    This is coming on the heels of a directive from the CBN to all banks on the collection of 0.005 per cent levy on all electronic transactions into a National Cyber Security Fund.

    Section 44 of the Cybercrime Prohibition and Prevention Act 2015, which the CBN seeks to implement, states that “there shall be paid and credited into the Fund established under subsection (1) of this section and domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria: a levy of 0.005 per cent of all electronic transactions by the businesses specified in the second schedule to this Act.”

    Businesses affected by this charge include GSM service providers – MTN, Glo, Airtel, 9Mobile etc. and all telecommunication companies; Internet service providers; banks and other financial institutions; insurance companies and Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    However, speaking at a press conference in Lagos yesterday, the President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Olusola Teniola, said the implementation of the levy is ill-timed, considering the fact that the telecom operators are currently battling with multiple taxation, which has risen from 26 in 2015 to 38 under the current administration.

    “At this point, if the CBN decides to go ahead with the implementation, we will have no choice but to pass the cost to the subscribers. Nigerians should be ready to pay more for calls and data subscriptions,” he said.

    Teniola added that with the additional burden, the operators might also consider downsizing their staff strength to stay afloat.

    ATCON, which is a professional, non-profit, non-political umbrella organization of telecommunications companies of Nigeria, said all its members have concluded that the only way to survive with the new levy is to increase tariff across board. “The eventual implementation of this levy of 0.005 per cent would cripple, if not render useless government and private sector efforts to speed up the broadband penetration in Nigeria and our association has a mandate to protect the investment in the telecom industry from undue pressure from the government in the form of yet additional burden on our members that are already overtaxed by all tiers of governments,” the ATCON President added.

  • MTN makes part payments of N330bn SIM cards fine

    MTN makes part payments of N330bn SIM cards fine

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said that MTN has paid N165 billion out of the N330 billion fine imposed on it due to its inability to disconnect improperly registered SIM cards.

    Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of NCC said this on Monday in Abuja when MTN Group, led by its Chairman in Nigeria, Dr Pascal Dozie visited the commission.

    In October 2015, the telecom regulator imposed a fine of N1.04 trillion on MTN Nigeria for not complying with government’s rule on deactivation of unregistered SIM cards.

    Also, the fine was imposed on MTN for not disconnecting about 5.1 million improperly registered lines in its network within the stipulated deadline.

    After several appeals and negotiations including diplomatic intervention by the South African government, the fine was reduced to N330billion.

    MTN initially made a commitment payment of N50billion to the government while the remaining balance of N280 billion was to be paid in six tranches in accordance with the agreements between the regulator and MTN.

    “I am happy to inform you that our agreement with MTN on how and when to pay the fine has been adhered to.

    “Just last month, March, we received a cheque of N55billion from MTN as part of the fine payment plan.

    “This brought the total fine paid by MTN Nigeria to N165billion, that is, more than half of the fine

    “It is a whopping sum of money and they have not defaulted and these payments they are making is consistent with the terms of agreement we reached with them,” he said.

    He said that the installmental payment was in line with the terms of agreement reached between MTN and the regulatory body.

    According to Danbatta, the fine is aimed at ensuring that it is not business as usual but to ensure that the rules of engagement are respected.

    “It is also to ensure that the rules governing the telecom sector of the economy is adhered to,” he said.

    The NCC boss said that the commission would continue to cooperate with the telecom company because of its major contributions to the economic and digital growth of the nation’s economy.

    Earlier, Chairman of MTN Nigeria said Nigeria was one of the largest contributors to its market and the visit was to cement the relationship between MTN and NCC.

    Dozie appealed to NCC to auction more spectrums to further open up the ICT space and improve the country’s economy.

     

  • Irregular SIM registration: MTN pays N110bn fine to FG

    Irregular SIM registration: MTN pays N110bn fine to FG

    The Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta on Thursday confirmed that telecommunications giant; MTN Nigeria has paid a total of N110bn into the coffers of the government out of the N330bn imposed on it.

    Danbatta disclosed this at a workshop on Code of Corporate Governance organised by the commission in Kano on Thursday.

    He also disclosed that the commission was rejigging its regulatory activities to ensure that telecommunications’ consumers get value for their money.

    Recall that NCC had in October 2015 imposed a fine of N1.04tn on MTN for irregular registration of subscribers. However, after prolonged negotiation with both the regulatory agency and the Federal Government, the company had the fine reduced to N330bn.

    Danbatta said the matter had been resolved with an agreement for settlement over a three-year period signed between the agency and MTN.

    He said the payment was spread over a three-year period because the intention was not to snuff life out of MTN.

    The NCC boss said, “Current evaluation report of the state of the industry suggests that whilst not understating the impact of other external and fiscal issues confronting the sector, that most challenges negatively affecting the health of operators in the sector today are attributable to poor governance issues.

    “It is currently rejigging its regulatory oversights in the areas of ensuring that consumers get cost effective value for money spent on telecommunication services; and that service delivery by providers are qualitative and efficient.

  • Court rejects suit compelling MTN to pay N1.04trn fine to FG

    Court rejects suit compelling MTN to pay N1.04trn fine to FG

    A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday rejected a suit seeking to compel MTN Nigeria Communications Limited to pay into the federation account N1.04trillion, being the fine that was imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    Delivering the judgement, Justice Babatunde Quadri also refused to issue an order of mandamus to compel NCC to perform its statutory obligation under section 45(1) (a) (b) and (c) of the Nigeria Communications Act, by revoking MTN’s operation licence, pending when it paid the fine.

    The judgment was on a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/448/2016, filed by a member of the House of Representatives, Raphael Igbokwe and Emmanuel Njoku, who said the sued for themselves and on behalf of “Nigerians Against Exploitation By Telecommunications Operators.”

    The plaintiffs had, among others, queried the powers of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Minister of Communications Technology to reduce the N1.04trillion fine imposed on MTN to N780billion.

    Defendants in the suit were the NCC, MTN, the AGF and the Minister of Communication Technology.

    Justice Quadri upheld preliminary objections filed by the defendants against the suit, to the effect that the suit was statute barred.

    He upheld their contention that 30 days had elapsed before the plaintiffs approached the court to challenge the fine they said was reduced since 2015.

    The judge said the plaintiffs did not fulfil necessary condition precedent to the filling of such suit, and that they failed to exhaust all other remedies that were provided in sections 86, 87 and 88 of the NCC Act and Order 34 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules.

    He said the plaintiffs ought to have applied for statement of reason from the NCC, request for a review of the decision of the commission within 30 days, and specify reasons why they wanted MTN to be compelled to pay the fine in full.

    Justice Quadri said it was only after the conditions were met that the plaintiffs could apply to court for a judicial review of the decision.

    The plaintiffs, through their lawyer, Okere Kingdom, prayed the court to, among other things, determine the following questions:

    “Whether or not the Hon. Minister of Justice/Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Communications Technology have powers to amend, alter, adjust or vary any provisions of a delegated legislation or any other law validly made by the National Assembly, or any rules, regulations and orders validly made by any delegated legislature pursuant to an Act of the National Assembly.

    “Whether or not the National Assembly of Nigeria or any arm of the National Assembly has the constitutional powers to constitute an investigative panel and to summon any government official, to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the alteration, variation and reduction of the fine lawfully imposed on MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd by the NCC, which fine was imposed pursuant to delegated powers conferred on the NCC by an Act of the National Assembly.

    “Whether or not MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd has breached section 146(1) and (2) of the NCC Act and sections 19(1) and 20 (1) and (2) of the NCC (Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulations) 2011, by intentionally and willfully failing to disconnect and register all unregistered subscribers on its network as stipulated in the Act.”

    Igbokwe stated, in an affidavit, that the House of Representatives had by a motion moved by Hon. Ehiozuwa Johnson captioned ‘need to investigate the payment made by MTN on the fine levied by the NCC’, constituted a committee to investigate issues, circumstances and motives behind “the huge reduction of the N1.04trillion fine imposed on MTN.

    He stated that controversy surrounding the reduction of the fine was a matter of public interest for which Nigerians deserved to know, adding that both Malami and Shittu refused to appear before the House of Representatives investigative committee, “thereby denying Nigerians opportunity to know the said circumstances and rationale leading to the reduction of the fine”.

     

  • Stop treating workers like slaves, NLC warns MTN, AEFB

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Friday picketed the Abuja corporate headquarters of telecommunication giant, MTN Nigeria and the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) over anti-Labour practices, accusing the two organizations of subjecting workers to slave labour.

    President of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba who led the picketing said it was part of activities marking the international day for decent work, set aside by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to advance Issues of decent work, issues of occupational health and safety, better conditions of service, and minimum wage Wabba said every worker is entitled to better working conditions, accusing the telecommunication company of regularly renewing employment contract with its workers as a way of shying away from the respiratory similitude of paying gratuity and pension to them.

    At the AEPB, Wabba said: “We have identified two organisation’s, Abuja Environmental Protection Board where casualization has been on and workers have been denied the rights to unionise among other issues.

    “We need to tell them that they need to respect international labour laws, they need to also respect our own labour laws but importantly, they must respect human and trade union rights.

    “Workers have dignity, workers are not slaves and therefore, all workers must be treated with the workers best of attention. Injury to one is an injury to all. Injury to the workers at MTN and AEPB is an injury to all Nigerian workers. Issues of minimum wage must be attended to within minimum time, we are running out of time”

  • Termination of appointment: MTN rejects industrial court’s ruling, appeals judgement

    Termination of appointment: MTN rejects industrial court’s ruling, appeals judgement

    Telecoms giant, MTN Nigeria, has rejected the verdict of the National Industrial Court which awarded cost of over N4billion in favour of a former employee of the telco, noting that it had filed an appeal against the said judgement at a higher court

    “We can confirm that the National industrial Court took a position which we consider detrimental to our interests in a suit filed by a former employee. The court’s position has been reviewed by our internal and external counsels. Following that review, we have approached a higher court requesting that the decision of the industrial court be set aside.

    We believe that there are critical elements of our case which were not fully considered by the lower court before taking its position. We are confident that the outcome at the superior court will be different and that justice will not only be done but will be seen to be done in this case,” MTN explained in a statement.
    It reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and international best practices in its dealings with its employees across the country.
    “MTN is committed to a policy of openness, integrity, diligence and professionalism in the conduct of business – with customers, shareholders and each other. Our Code of Conduct stipulates high labour standards regarding all our employees. In addition we have processes in place to ensure that we act in accordance with international standards and local laws.
    “We therefore maintain that we treat all our employees fairly, as captured in the details of our employment contracts, signed and legally binding.

    This situation was no different. The most basic commitment we make – to our customers, our shareholders, and each other – is to conduct ourselves in an ethical, honest and respectful manner,” the telecoms giant said.