Ex-Staff moves to compel MTN to pay N148bn entitlements

 

Mr. Paul Odunewu, former staff of the MTN Group, has filed a further-reply-affidavit and written address at the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, in support of his application praying the Court  for an Order to compel the telecommunications giant  MTN,  to deposit with  the Court the judgement debt and accrued interest as ordered by the National Industrial Court Nigeria (NICN), Akure Division.

In a judgement delivered by Honourable Justice Oyejoju Oyewunmi on September 17, 2017, the trial court had found that termination of Odunewu’s employment on February 28, 2006, was wrongful and malicious; and had ordered the company to pay. his entitlements including share options valued at $13,144,512.00. 

MTN had faulted the judgement of NICN and appealed on September 29, 2017, through their external Counsel, Professor G Elias & Co., vide a notice of appeal containing two grounds alleging that the trial Court breached their fundamental right to fair hearing. MTN also filed a Motion for stay of execution of the judgement, but. Odunewu’s Counsel, Prof A. B. Kasunmu’s Chambers, opposed the stay of execution motion on the ground that the initiating notice of appeal is not competent.
MTN Group Limited, South Africa (MTNG); MTN Nigeria (MTNN) and MTN International, Mauritius (MTNI) is the first, second, and third appellant respectively, in this six-year-old appeal which had lasted more than 10 years from the Lagos State High Court to the NICN before judgement was delivered in September 2017.

In his application filed on January 8, 2020, with appeal number CA/1346/2017, Odunewu’s grounds of the motion include assertions that the Notice of Appeal filed by MTN on September 29, 2017, is highly incompetent and does not raise any substantial or recondite issues of law.

Also, MTN have been facing huge fines from various Authorities in Nigeria for regulatory and tax infringements and the cumulative impact of these fines raises existential issues for MTN Nigeria and their ability to pay the judgement sum as due at the determination of the case. 

Furthermore, the Appellants (MTN) have not been prosecuting this appeal diligently and expeditiously.

Odunewu supported the motion with financial statements and press releases by MTN (among others). MTN completed in 2019 payment of ₦330 billion Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) fine, and MTN Group had paid $100 million to Lawyers within six months to negotiate the NCC fine. MTN Nigeria reported preferential shares redemption as of December 30, 2019, at a total amount of ₦148.19 billion (or $399.59 million) in favour of MTN Group. 

This, consequently, reduced share capital of MTN Nigeria to ₦17.623 billion in 2019 compared to ₦65.145 billion in 2018.  On the 24th of December 2018, MTN announced payment of $52.6 Million as a “notional reversal” of $1.0 billion private placement in 2008 based on certificate that did not have final approval and thereby resolved the $8.1 billion dividend repatriation issue with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

A Nigeria Senate Committee had investigated MTN for capital flight and had reported that a total capital inflow of $1.24 billion was injected for MTN operations in Nigeria for the period 2001 – 2016 whereas MTN Nigeria repatriated $13.92 billion from 2006 to 2016 in the guise of dividends/profit, repayment of loans and licenses/management fee.  This meant that MTN, as of 2016, were repatriating $11 for every $1 that they injected into their business in Nigeria.