The Honourable Federal Commissioner, Hon. Abubakar B. Jijiwa MFR on wednesday 17th January 2023 recommended that MTN should pay a Complainant his rent that has accrued for some years.

The Honourable Commissioner gave this directive while presiding over a Case Conference on a complaint on non-payment of rent by MTN on a land leased to it in Guyuk Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

The Complainant earlier lodged a case before the Commission alleging that his late brother leased his land to MTN years ago and the Company had stopped paying the rent claiming that it purchased the said land.

After much deliberations and careful examination of the documents presented by both parties at the Case Conference, it was discovered that the documents presented by the Officials of the MTN were doctored while the documents of Lease in possession of the complainant were the original documents indicating that the land in question was leased and not outright purchase as claimed by the Respondent.

On this note, the Honourable Commissioner directed the State Director, Mr Shewa Dan Maiyaki to write a comprehensive report of the outcome of the meeting recommending that MTN pays the complainant the backlog of rent that had accrued over the years and that they could renegotiate a new contract if they so wished as stated in the lease agreement.

The MTN representatives apologized to the complainant and promised to submit their report along with the PCC’s recommendation to their management and follow through till the complainant is paid.

The Complainant thanked the State Ombudsman for his intervention and was happy that he had finally gotten justice for his late brother.