MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has initiated a thorough investigation into its Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Ms. Adia Sowho, following accusations of misappropriating a portion of the N5 billion budget allocated for the commercial launch of its 5G Network in 2022.
This investigation has led to Sowho’s sudden resignation last week, a move widely perceived as an attempt to avoid indictment and potential dismissal for corruption.
In September 2022, MTN Nigeria successfully launched its 5G network in Lagos, promising to usher in a new era of high-speed internet connectivity in the country.
However, shortly after the launch, internal auditors discovered irregularities indicating that portions of the funds earmarked for launch and marketing activities had been misappropriated through inflated contracts and other dubious means.
Appointed as CMO in 2021, Adia Sowho is now under scrutiny for allegedly procuring services from contractors at significantly higher rates than those previously charged before her tenure.
A former staff member of MTN’s marketing department, who has since relocated overseas, shared insights with Sahara Reporters, highlighting several instances of alleged financial misconduct within the marketing division.
The former employee, speaking anonymously, revealed, “MTN used to work on digital campaigns directly with a contractor called TRANSSION.
“Adia attempted to force the marketing team to switch to a vendor called Hippo AD, which would have been more expensive because Hippo AD would still need to work with TRANSSION to provide effective services in Nigeria. This was an unnecessary middleman introduction that the media team eventually resisted.”
In another instance, Sowho allegedly tried to inflate the budget for a campaign titled “Blow my Hustle” from just over N30 million to over N100 million, pushing to award the project to her preferred contractors.
When the team resisted, she threatened to approve only N7 million, a budget insufficient to complete the project, thus coercing the team into compliance.
Further allegations include Sowho’s directive for the Customer Value Management (CVM) team to pay a vendor over N50 million for bulk SMS services, a task the CVM team typically handled in-house at no extra cost. Additionally, she has been accused of colluding with a contractor, SPV Communications, to pad invoices for marketing activities, significantly inflating costs for routine services.
Sowho’s tenure also saw the engagement of McKinsey consultants without following due process, incurring costs running into billions of naira. Despite the hefty expenditure, insiders claim that McKinsey’s recommendations did not provide any new insights, merely reiterating existing marketing strategies.
These allegations of financial misconduct and the subsequent resignation of Adia Sowho have cast a shadow over MTN Nigeria’s corporate governance practices.
