The ruling prohibiting MTN Nigeria Communications and ATC Nigeria Wireless Infrastructure from constructing base transceiver stations has been revoked by the Federal High Court in Lagos.
On November 21, the court approved an order for the Incorporated Trustees of the HEDA Resource Center, but Justice Yellim Bogoro overturned it.
Federal Ministry of Environment and Ecological Management, MTN, ATC, and other parties were named as defendants by HEDA in suit FHC/L/CS/2359/2023.
In an ex-parte application, the plaintiff claimed that although ATC intended to construct 2,500 base stations, those stations would be close to those owned by IHS Towers Nigeria.
An interim order prohibiting the defendants from moving forward with the stations was obtained by it.
MTN filed a request to revoke the order through its legal counsel, Kenna Partners, under the direction of Prof. Fabian Ajogwu (SAN).
Ajogwu contended that as HEDA had not committed any immediate wrong, the order should not have been granted.
He argued that information that HEDA had withheld could have helped the court reach a different conclusion.
Through its attorney, Nicholas Okafor, ATC contended that the order was made without jurisdiction and lacked legal foundation.
In a decision dated March 8, the court supported MTN’s position.
It was agreed that the Nigeria Communications Commission’s rules regarding the distance between towers were not broken by any of MTN’s base transceiver stations.
Appointed Judge Bogoro postponed till April 22.