Nigeria has suspended talks with the MTN Group over the record $3.9 billion (R60 billion) fine, according to Bloomberg.
On Sunday, Bloomberg reported talks have been suspended indefinitely while the country's House of Representatives completes an investigation into the size of the penalty and how it was delivered.
Spokesperson of Nigeria's ministry of communications, Victor Oluwadamilare, told Bloomberg the lawmakers "have set up a committee to investigate the MTN saga and they are still on it". "Until they are through with it, nothing can be done," he said.
"The federal government, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the ministry of communications can do nothing about the MTN case until the committee concludes its thorough investigation," Oluwadamilare told Bloomberg. "There's no point dealing with a particular organisation from different fronts. It would be counter-productive."
Africa's largest mobile operator was slapped with a $5.2 billion (R80 billion) penalty by the NCC last October for failing to disconnect 5.1 million unregistered SIM cards on its Nigerian network. In early December, the fine was reduced by 25% to $3.9 billion.
The MTN group has 232.5 million subscribers across 22 countries in Africa and the Middle East ? 61.3 million of which are in Nigeria.
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