MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has commissioned an investigation into the activities of its Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Ms. Adia Sowho who has been accused of misappropriating part of the N5 billion budgeted by the company for the commercial launch of its 5G Network in 2022.
The investigation has made the CMO to quickly tender her resignation last week, in a move many believe was done in a bid to avoid being indicted and dismissed for corruption.
MTN in September 2022 launched the 5G network in Lagos ushering in a new era of fast-speed internet connection in the country. Shortly after the launch, however, internal auditors discovered that parts of the funds budgeted for launch and marketing activities around it were misappropriated through inflation of contracts and other means.
Adia Sowho, who was appointed as the CMO in 2021, is being investigated after a discovery that she has been procuring many services from contractors at significantly higher rates than had been the practice before she joined the company two years ago.
A former staff of MTN’s marketing department who resigned and relocated overseas told Sahara Reporters that Adia Sowho has been accused by employees in her Division of suddenly changing contractors for many services being provided to the company and seeking to impose her own cronies on the company as contractors.
According to the source who pleaded anonymity, “MTN used to work on Digital campaigns directly with a contractor called TRANSSION. She attempted to force the marketing team to switch to a vendor called Hippo AD. This would have been more expensive for MTN because Hippo AD would still have to deal with TRANSSION being the one that can provide those services effectively in Nigeria. This was an attempt by Adia Sowho to introduce a middleman and it was unnecessary. Luckily, the media team refused to budge so the plan fell apart. She has made efforts to punish those who kicked against it, afterwards.”
