Senate absolves MTN Nigeria of forex transfer breach, urges CBN to sanction Stanbic IBTC

The Senate, yesterday, approved a report largely exonerating MTN Nigeria of foreign exchange infractions after being accused of illegally repatriating $14 billion to its parent.

But the Senate report also asked Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sanction Stanbic IBTC Bank “for improper documentations in respect of capital repatriation and loan repayments” on behalf of MTN.

The upper legislative chamber had agreed in September last year to investigate if Africa’s biggest telecoms firm unlawfully repatriated $13.92 billion from Nigeria – its most lucrative market which generates a third of its revenue – between 2006 and 2016.

A spokesman for MTN said, “we welcome the report. We will study it in more detail. As we’ve placed on record previously, we have always insisted that our actions have been compliant with the law in this regard.”

Stanbic IBTC did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

According to the Senate, the investigation did not show any proof of collusion to contravene Nigeria’s foreign exchange laws.