Sifiso Dabengwa, the group chief executive officer of MTN, has resigned “with immediate effect”.
His resignation was communicated to the shareholders on Monday.
“Due to the most unfortunate prevailing circumstances occurring at MTN Nigeria, I, in the interest of the company and its shareholders, have tendered my resignation with immediate effect,” said Dabengwa.
A N1.04tr fine was imposed on MTN’s Nigerian arm by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for failing to deactivate 5.1 million unregistered SIM cards.
Phuthuma Nhleko, the former MTN group CEO and current non-executive chairman, will take on an executive role until Dabengwa is replaced. .
The fate of the Nigerian CEO, Michael Ikpoki, over the N1.0tr affair is yet unknown.
Dabengwa has been group CEO of MTN since March 2011, when he took the leadership role from Nhleko. He first joined MTN in 2004 as CEO of MTN Nigeria. He is a former executive director of Eskom.