Media consultant drags MTN to court

By Dolapo Ekanade - 05.03.2008

A media consultant, Mr. Sina Kawonise, has dragged MTN Nigeria to court over an alleged breach of contract Led in examination- in chief by his counsel, Mrs. Yetunde Adegboye, at an Ibadan high court on Tuesaday, the plaintiff said in 2005, he switched over from his usual “Pay As You Go” package to “This Time Bundle 17500” because of the volume of calls he made in order to cut call costs while facilitating his business.

Kawonise explained that on November 16, 2005, he entered into the new contract at the MTN branch office at Ring Road and obtained a receipt to that effect.

He said he did not enjoy the service as he was unable to make calls which were crucial to his line of business between November 19 and 28 as a result of which he lost huge contract bids from business partners.

According to him, the breach of contract by the MTN also denied him access and contact with his customers at the African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) Plc., where he is a consultant.

He explained that his recognised number was important to his customers who might not pick calls from strange numbers because of busy schedules when he used the emergency line he obtained during that period to call them.

He claimed that all his complaints through phone calls, personal visits and letters through his lawyer to the MTN yielded no fruit. Kawonise sought a relief of the court that the company should indemnify him against all the losses incurred in his business at the time he was not provided with service.

During cross-examination, the defendant’s counsel, Kehinde Olawunmi, pointed out a clause where he said he (plaintiff) must have understood the terms of contract before entering into it.

Kawonise, who said the said clause was not relevant to the issue, wondered why the service provider, which had earlier written a letter of apology for their negligence, could now turn around and say he (Kawonise) had insufficient units to call on his phone at the time.