Nigeria's communications ministry said yesterday that it was up to President Muhammadu Buhari to decide "in which direction to go" with a $5.2-billion fine imposed on cellphone network operator MTN. "The communications minister [Adebayo Shittu] said in Lagos that it will be up to the president to determine which direction to go since MTN asked for leniency," ministry spokesman Tajudeen Kareem said.MTN was fined by the Nigerian Communications Commission at the end of October for not disconnecting 5.2 million unregistered users from its network.Nigeria has been pushing operators to verify the identity of its subscribers, concerned that unregistered sim cards were being used for criminal activity in a country that is also fighting an insurgency by Islamist militant group Boko Haram.MTN is the largest cellphone operator in Nigeria and the West African nation accounts for about one-third of its revenues.The payment deadline was extended from November 16 after the NCC said it was looking into MTN's plea for leniency, though the fine remained because the firm had admitted to breaking the law.MTN's stock price has sunk more than 25% since the penalty was announced on October 26 as the size of the fine is equivalent to more than two years' profit for the firm.Late yesterday MTN shares were down 2.6% at R140.92.Two weeks ago, Shittu said in an interview that "nobody wants MTN to die" as a result of the penalty...