N1.04t fine: NCC challenges court jurisdiction in MTN suit

The Nigerian Communications Commission has challenged the suit filed by MTN Nigeria Communications‎ Limited against it over a fine of N1.04t imposed on it.
The NCC asked that the suit be dismissed.
NCC fined MTN N1.04 trillion sequel to its failure to deactivate unregistered lines.
The Commission later reduced the fine by 25 percent.
After a failed attempt to lobby for the fine to be dropped, MTN Nigeria headed to the court to contest the fine.
The NCC, through its team of lawyers, led by Dr. Wale Babalakin, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, Paul Usoro and Ahmed Raji, all Senior Advocates of Nigeria, asked the Federal High Court in Lagos, where the suit was filed by MTN, to decline jurisdiction.
They asked the court to transfer the case to the Abuja Division of the court, where the cause of action arose.
According to the defendants’ motion on notice, the NCC asked the Lagos court to set aside the purported service of the Originating Summons and other processes in the matter for non-compliance with the provisions of Section 143 of the commission’s Act.
According to the affidavit in support of the 1st defendant’s motion on notice, deposed to by Anone Anthony Usman, a legal practitioner in the law firm of Ahmed Raji and Co, the commission said its decision to fine the telecommunications company was taken in Abuja on October 20, 2015, which is outside the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, Lagos.
The defendant said the proper and convenient forum for the determination of the case is the Abuja Division of the court.
The NCC also argued that the Abuja Division of the court has the territorial jurisdiction to handle the case and is also where the performance of the demand of the 1st defendant on the plaintiff (MTN) is to take place.
The MTN had dragged the NCC and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice before the court to challenge the N1.04 trillion fine placed on it.
In the suit, the firm is urging the court to quash the fine, which NCC had imposed on it in October for allegedly failing to disconnect unregistered subscribers.
The initial fine of $5.2 billion was reduced by 25 per cent to $3.9 billion earlier this month, with a payment deadline set for December 31, 2015.
But MTN through its team of lawyers, comprising Chief Wole Olanipekun, Tanimola Molajo, A.B. Mahmoud, Dr. Gbolahan Elias, Oladipo Okpeseyi, Prof. Fabian Ajogwu, Dr. Oladapo Olanipekun, all SANs), through an originating summons challenged the powers of NCC to impose such a fine on it.
The telecoms company argued that on the basis that the NCC being a regulator cannot assume all the functions of the state on its own, considering the fact that it made the regulation, prescribed the penalty and imposed the fine, payable to the commission and not the Federal Government.
The firm also alleged that it was not afforded its constitutional right of fair hearing before a court of competent jurisdiction and more importantly it had not been found guilty of any offence that will warrant it to pay such outrageous fine.