MTN Nigeria boss resigns as regulator slashes $5.2 billion fine

According to a statement released on Thursday morning, Michael Ikpoki, MTN Nigeria CEO handed in his resignation with immediate effect. MTN Nigeria’s head of regulatory and corporate affairs, Akinwale Goodluck, has also resigned.

The former chief operating officer and chief financial officer at MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman, will become that business unit’s CEO. Nigerian national Amina Oyagbola has also been named head of regulatory and corporate affairs at MTN Nigeria.

The resignations in Nigeria come amid MTN being fined $5.2bn by regulators in that country for failing to disconnect up to five million unregistered SIM following the major shake-up in MTN Nigeria.

Earlier, last Month MTN Group CEO Sifiso Dabengwa announced his resignation from the company too on the same grounds where MTN’s former CEO Phuthuma Nhleko was then appointed as executive chairperson and tasked with tackling the fine.

The resignation of MTN Nigeria boss comes after a market update released to shareholders on Thursday by MTN, said that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had agreed to cut the fine to $3.4bn down from $5.2 billion and that this penalty needs to be paid by December 31 2015.

This also comes as President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria plans to meet with President Jacob Zuma of South Africa in Johannesburg this week to discuss MTN’s $5.2billion fine.

MTN also said that the group has resolved to re-implement its previous reporting structure which splits its operations into three regions: West and Central Africa (WECA), South and East Africa (SEA), and Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The company also announced other new senior appointments in line with this structure.

“This revised structure and strengthened leadership will improve operational oversight and increase management capacity,” said MTN group executive chairman Phuthuma Nhhleko in a statement.

MTN has over 230 million subscribers across Africa and the Middle East making it the largest telecom company in Africa and over 60 million in Nigeria, making it that country’s biggest mobile network.