EFCC Raids MTN Nigeria Head Office Over Share Manipulations

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Friday, May 24, 2019, raided the office of MTN Nigeria in Falomo Ikoyi, Lagos, shutting down all activities in the Complex.

According to a source, the raid is connected to complaints relating to the telecommunication’s recent listing in the market.
The operatives of the anti-graft agency were said to have stormed the MTN’s office in Lagos, where it met with top key officials of the company and demanded some documents relating to its listing at the e Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

“I believe the EFCC was informed that MTN was manipulating figures and also, maybe because of fraud pertaining to the company’s listing,” a source said.
MTN Public Relations Officer, Funso Aina, who neither denied nor admitted that the company was raided, but said: “We will send out a statement to that effect very soon”.

Big players in the Nigerian capital market also think that if MTN shares continue to climb the way it is rising they stand the risk of being dethroned from their vantage positions as the market leaders.

They are believed to be interested in the stories making the rounds that the scarcity of the MTN shares is as a result of manipulation.
No official of the EFCC and MTN was prepared to be put on record on the matter.
MTN Nigeria was listed at a total of 20, 354,513,050 at N90 per share on May 16, after the company had completed all the necessary steps required by the NSE for listing which led to the approval.

On the day of the listing, MTN Nigeria was reported to have emerged as the second largest company on the nation’s bourse after Dangote Cement with a market capitalisation of N1.83 trillion.