NCC Asks Court to Dismiss MTN’s Case over N1.04trn Fine
NIGERIAN Communications Commission (NCC) has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss or decline hearing in the suit filed by MTN Nigeria Communications Limited challenging the N1.04trn fine imposed on it by the commission.
NCC had imposed the N1.04trn fine on MTN for its failure to disconnect its unregistered subscribers in line with the commission’s directive.
But not pleased with the sanction, MTN had through its legal team, comprising seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria, approached a Federal High Court in Lagos seeking an order quashing the fine.
MTN had urged the court to determine whether NCC could act pursuant to Section 70 of the NCC Act to impose a fine on it without breaching the provisions of sections 1 (3), 4 and 6 of the 1999 Constitution.
The telecommunications company claimed that NCC violated its fundamental right to fair hearing, adding that by imposing the fine, NCC was already usurping “the exclusive legislative powers of the National Assembly, as well as the judicial powers of the courts established under the Constitution.”
But in a motion on notice filed through its lawyers, Ahmed Raji (SAN) and Mahmud Magaji (SAN), NCC asked the court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction or send it to Abuja.
The commission argued that the suit was wrongly filed in Lagos, noting that the subject of the dispute took place in Abuja, while the two respondents in the suit, NCC and the Attorney General of the Federation, are also based in Abuja.
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1 Comments
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