The Kogi State Utility Infrastructure Management and Compliance Agency (KUIMCA) weekend vowed that the operational facilities of MTN would remain sealed until the telecommunication company complies with the regulation of the agency.
The director general of KUIMCA, Dr. Taufiq Isah, and the executive chairman, Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KSIRS), Salihu Enehe, at a joint press conference held in Lokoja weekend said MTN facilities were shut down in the last two weeks as a result of the company’s failure to comply fully with the rules stipulated in the official gazette guiding its operations in the state.
Dr. Isa said: “When I assumed office August 2024, I went through the files of all telecommunication companies operating in Kogi state and discovered that MTN had not fully complied with the rules guiding their operations.
“I called the company management for a discussion where they complained of being overbilled concerning the area of the state covered by their optic fibres. I went with them for verification exercise to assess their claim which took about four days and we found out they were covering more areas than they claimed.
“We asked the company to make the necessary payments to the state government, but MTN refused. That is why we sealed off their facilities after obtaining court order to do so,” the DG stated.
While urging residents of the state to be patient with the government since their interests are being protected, Isa noted that since MTN is not the only mobile telecom service provider in the state, residents as well as security agencies should consider switching to other networks to enable them perform their duties.
The executive chairman, KGIRS, Salihu Sule Enehe, said MTN has deliberately refused to respond to so many messages sent to them, asking for compliance on various terms of operations in the state.
The chairman, who was represented by a director in KGIRS in charge of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) Hassana Salawu, noted that MTN has been indulging in violation of various rules, including the optic fibre right of way across the state.
Meanwhile a staff of MTN in Lokoja who pleaded for anonymity told journalists that the telecommunication company had never refused to comply, urging the agency to come out in specific terms to state in which areas MTN is not complying.