Tag: MTN

A former Network Group Operations Manager at MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, Mr Paul Odunewu, has accused the company of withholding his entitlements, including a share option worth over $13.14 million (about N2.1 billion)

He sued MTN at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) sitting in Lagos and demanded N100 million in general damages for alleged wrongful termination of his contract.

Odunewu said he worked at MTN for over four years, and was responsible for the network’s outstanding achievements, which continues till date.

The former manager said he was responsible for the company’s pre-paid and post-paid revenue, subscription, voucher management and real-time charging.

He said: “I built the engine of the defendant’s business in Nigeria including people, process and technology.”

Odunewu added that MTN made over N5.15 trillion in revenue as at December 2013.

Testifying before Justice Oyejoju Oyewumi, the claimant said MTN pleaded with him to return home from the United Kingdom and help the company to develop its telecommunications in Nigeria.

According to him, he was promised, among others, a Share Option, a long-term incentive scheme being developed by MTN.

Odunewu said when he complained that the Share Option was not contained in his offer letter, MTN persuaded him to accept the job, adding that he would be entitled to the shares after three years.

“In November 2001, the defendant sent the contract to me. I saw it and discovered the Share Option was not included, hence I wrote the CTO about my observation.

“This is my complaint before this court, that the defendant in 2001, before I joined them, made a representation to me that my role included a Share Option. I believe same.

“I acted on contract. I joined the company. I worked with all my energy for the defendant for over three years. So, I’m asking the court to stop the defendant from denying my entitlements to the Share Option,” he said.

MTN Group Limited, South Africa; MTN Nigeria and MTN International, Mauritius are other defendants in the suit.

Odunewu said his position came under attack when a group of white South Africans was posted to oversee Network Group management in 2005.

He said there was an “onslaught” against him when his superiors suddenly became “disturbed that a Nigerian could possess such incredible experience and exposure…”

The former manager said matters got to a head when he received a letter, dated February 28, 2006, purportedly terminating his appointment and his access to the MTN network as a worker was revoked.

Odunewu claimed that the contract termination contradicted the clauses in his agreement with MTN.

The plaintiff averred that he never committed any serious or persistent breach of the provisions of the agreement or the company’s code, adding that he was never summoned to a disciplinary committee or found guilty of any misconduct or non-performance.

But the defendants denied Odunewu’s claims. MTN said the former manager’s contract was of limited to the duration and was due to terminate on December 12, 2003.

MTN said: “The letter of offer of employment with the second defendant expressly warned against any expectation of continued employment, nor was it ever at any time suggested to the claimant that he was to be made or had been made a permanent employee of the second defendant or any of the defendants.

“In the circumstances, claimant knew and expected, or ought to have known and expected that his employment was not a long-term or permanent appointment, and that the same was also liable to be determined within 60 days of the receipt of written notice.

“The defendants say that the claimant’s claim is speculative and gold-digging, that he is not entitled to the reliefs claimed or at all and that the claim herein should be dismissed with substantial costs

in favour of the defendants.”