A Lagos lawyer, Mr Tope Alabi, has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss MTN Nigeria’s suit against the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
He said the N1.04trillion fine imposed on MTN is in order, adding that the telecoms firm has no reasonable case against NCC.
According to Alabi, granting MTN’s reliefs will result in “people breaking one law and hiding under another law to escape liability.”
MTN is urging court to quash the $3.9billion sanction imposed on it by NCC in October for failing to disconnect unregistered subscribers. The initial fine of $5.2billion was reduced by 25 per cent to $3.9billion earlier this month. Yesterday was the payment deadline.
But MTN through its lawyers led by a former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) is challenging NCC’s powers to impose the fine. It argued that NCC being a regulator cannot assume all the functions of the state.
However, Alabi, in an application seeking to be joined as an interested party, said MTN’s suit is abuse of court process that must not be tolerated.
The lawyer said for over three years, NCC had directed all service providers to register their SIM cards already sold and in circulation. He said he duly registered his line sometime in 2012 and MTN called him in 2013 to obtain further information towards completing the registration.
“The first defendant (NCC) gave time limit for all subscribers to register their SIM cards. The time limit was also extended repeatedly. The plaintiff was in default to register 5,200,000 subscribers
“The plaintiff could register all the 5,200,000 subscribers SIMs in default within the time limit and extended time given by the first defendant. I believe other service providers such as Airtel, GLO, Etisalat, Starcomm strictly complied with the first defendant’s directives without defaulting; except the plaintiff.
“The plaintiff never denied it defaulted in registration of the 5,200,000 subscribers. The fine imposed on the plaintiff by the first defendant is in order. The suit of the plaintiff with reliefs sought therein will encourage culture of impunity in Nigeria.
“The law under which the plaintiff is subjected to liability is justice-able and valid. It is in the interest of justice to grant this application for the applicant to defend this suit within the purview of the law,” Alabi said.
Alibi prayed the court to grant his application so that he could prove that MTN has no reasonable cause of action against NCC, and that granting MTN’s prayers will encourage a culture of impunity in Nigeria “whereby people would do all kinds of illegal and unlawful acts and get away with it so long as they can secure legal service to escape liability.”
He said: “My Lord, the plaintiff in this suit has not denied it defaulted in registration of 5, 200,000 subscribers. It only came before the court for sympathy that the fine of N200,000 per SIM is too excessive.
“I know of fact that such a complaint does not warrant the court to quash the fine or the entire fine and set the plaintiff free to go home without fine. This, if the court allows, will massively lead to conduct of impunity of ‘I can do anything and nothing will happen’; so long as the court is there to set an offender free.
“My Lord, we believe that Nigeria is not a dumping ground and at the same time, it is not a country of anything goes, neither is it a lawless country. The law under which the fine was imposed on the plaintiff is valid and subsisting and in accordance with the Constitution.
“The plaintiff is seeking equity with dirty hands. The equitable jurisdiction of the court cannot be invoked mala fide by the plaintiff. We urge the court to so hold,” Alabi added.