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MTN Nigeria Takes Over 20 Banks to Court in an Effort to Recover SleekChip N3 Billion Debt
MTN Nigeria is making headlines after taking more than 20 banks to court in a determined effort to recover a huge debt owed by SleekChip Technologies Limited. The telecom giant says SleekChip owes them about N3 billion for services provided, and now MTN Nigeria takes over 20 banks to court to recover the SleekChip debt.
This whole issue started back in July 2019, when MTN and SleekChip signed a deal. The agreement allowed both companies to connect calls and messages through each other’s networks for a fee, known as interconnect charges. But between January and October 2022, SleekChip racked up a big bill, over $1.9 million, by using MTN’s network. Despite several reminders and letters from MTN, SleekChip didn’t pay up.
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In May 2023, SleekChip admitted they owed the money and promised to pay by July 20, 2023. But that promise was not kept. According to the agreement, SleekChip had 60 days to challenge any bill they thought was wrong, but they never did. With no payment and no dispute, MTN decided to take the matter to court.
In November 2024, the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled in MTN’s favor. The judge ordered SleekChip to pay the full amount, which, when converted to naira at the Central Bank’s exchange rate, came to about N3.28 billion. The court also said SleekChip must pay extra interest until the debt is fully settled.
But even after the court’s decision, MTN still didn’t get their money. That’s when MTN Nigeria takes over 20 banks to court over SleekChip debt, hoping to find and collect any money SleekChip might have in those banks. This process is called a “garnishee proceeding,” which simply means MTN is asking the court to let them take money directly from SleekChip’s bank accounts to cover the debt.
On May 16, 2025, MTN’s lawyers told the court that most of the banks had responded, showing whether or not SleekChip had any accounts or money with them. MTN then asked the court to release more than 10 banks from the case, since SleekChip had no funds there, and the judge agreed. However, some banks were not happy with MTN’s request to dig deeper into SleekChip’s accounts using their Bank Verification Number (BVN), saying the court hadn’t given such permission. The judge has now postponed the case until June 26, 2025, for more discussion.
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This isn’t the first time MTN has had to chase after unpaid interconnect fees. In the past, the telecom regulator, NCC, even allowed MTN to disconnect some service providers, including SleekChip, over similar debts. The problem of unpaid interconnect fees is nothing new in Nigeria’s telecom industry, but this case stands out because of the huge SleekChip N3 billion debt and the fact that MTN Nigeria takes over 20 banks to court to recover SleekChip debt.
For now, everyone is waiting to see if MTN will finally get their money or if the case will drag on. One thing is clear: MTN is not giving up easily when it comes to collecting what they are owed.
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