MTN Nigeria drags over 20 banks to court amid SleekChip N3bn debt recovery

MTN Nigeria has initiated legal proceedings against over 20 commercial banks to recover approximately N 6 billion in interconnect fees owed by SleekChip Technologies Limited. This action follows a favorable judgment from the Federal High Court in Abuja in November 2024, which mandated SleekChip to pay $1,971,409.85 (about N3.28 billion at the Central Bank of Nigeria's exchange rate of N 1,665.84 to $1 on the judgment date) plus interest at 2% above the Nigerian Interbank Offer Rate, backdated to January 31, 2022 .

Background of the Dispute

In July 2019, MTN and SleekChip entered into a network interconnect agreement, allowing SleekChip to route calls and messages through MTN's network for a fee. Between January and October 2022, SleekChip accrued significant unpaid interconnect charges. Despite multiple demand notices from MTN, SleekChip failed to settle the debt. In May 2023, SleekChip acknowledged the debt and promised to pay by July 20, 2023, but did not fulfill this commitment .

Legal Actions and Garnishee Proceedings

Following the court's judgment, MTN initiated garnishee proceedings to recover the debt by targeting funds held in SleekChip's accounts across various banks. A Garnishee Order Nisi was issued, attaching the sum of ?1.93 billion as interest on the principal judgment sum as of November 7, 2024 .

During court proceedings on May 16, 2025, MTN's legal team presented affidavits from the banks detailing SleekChip's account holdings. Consequently, over 10 banks were discharged from the garnishee proceedings due to the absence of SleekChip's accounts with them. The case has been adjourned to June 26, 2025, for further hearing .

Industry Implications

This case underscores the ongoing challenges in the Nigerian telecommunications sector regarding interconnect debts. In 2023, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) approved MTN's request to disconnect certain Value-Added Service (VAS) operators, including SleekChip, over unpaid interconnect charges. The NCC has also granted MTN approval to disconnect other operators, such as Exchange Telecommunications Limited and Globacom, for similar reasons .

MTN's aggressive legal approach reflects a broader industry trend of telecom operators seeking to enforce payment obligations and maintain financial stability amid rising operational costs and currency fluctuations.