Buhari and Zuma retire into the inner chambers for talks

Nigeria’s leading telecom company, MTN must be preparing for the worst over the $3.9 billion fine imposed by the Nigerian Telecommunications Commission.

The reason is that President Muhammadu Buhari, expected to have the final say on the matter after MTN made a symbolic $250million  downpayment blamed the telco for being responsible for many deaths inflicted  on Nigerians  by Boko Haram.

Buhari spoke on Tuesday, the first time, he made a public comment on the issue.

He said that the slow registration of Nigerians on the MTN lines by the service providers contributed to  the  killing of at least 10, 000 innocent Nigerians by the insurgents, Boko Haram.

He made the remark during a joint press conference after holding closed door meeting with South African President, Jacob Zuma at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to him, the concern of the Federal Government was purely security and not the fine imposed on MTN.

Answering questions on Tuesday, Buhari said: “This is the first time I will be personally as a president  making a public comment about it. The concern of the federal government is basically on the security and not the fine imposed on MTN.

“You know how the unregistered GSM are being used by terrorists. And between 2009 and today, at least 10,000 Nigerians were killed by Boko Haram.