One of the leading telecoms in Nigeria, MTN, has faulted the inaccurate and biased reports in some national newspapers on Thursday, 26 July, 2012, which alleged that its officials recanted their position on the ownership of two lines linked to the election dispute in Osun State.
The matter has precipitated a series of allegations against MTN by the Osun State Chapter of the PDP and former Osun State Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
But in a statement made available to LEADERSHIP yesterday by? its Corporate Services Executive, Mr. Akinwale Goodluck, the MTN said the reports were a deliberate misrepresentation of the information given to the Police by MTN officials in Abuja on Tuesday, July 24, 2012, in respect of a petition filed against the company by Oyinlola.
He added that the MTN officials who honoured the invitation of the police to provide further information and perspective on the matter did not make any statements that differed from their previous statements at all material times.
The statement reads in part, “We would like to state categorically that our officials did not recant earlier information given in respect of the ownership of the two phone lines for which details of ownership and call records were requested from MTN.
“We have provided consistent information to the authorities as contained in our records at every stage that the information has been requested.
The MTN spokesman expressed disappointment that the details of statements given to the police could be so easily obtained and then deliberately misrepresented in the public domain, saying? that the breach was indicative of bad faith on the part of those who stand to benefit from such misinformation.
According to him, the MTN is apolitical and non-partisan, and as such has no reason to act in any unethical manner as being alleged by the politician. He noted that MTN had made strenuous effort to explain the processes and procedure of their business and the reasons why all customer information and records are routinely presented in a particular way.
He said, “MTN is guided by strict corporate governance codes and we take grave exception to this continuous insinuation of unethical or improper conduct against us by the plaintiff. It can never be in our interest to misrepresent facts or falsify information.”