A system glitch in MTN Nigeria’s system has caused the disappearance of debt on the accounts of subscribers who had borrowed credit from the company.

However, the subscribers believe the telecom operator deliberately cancelled their debts and, hence, are already jubilating and thanking the company.

An official of MTN  confirmed to Nairametrics that the disappearance of debts in the subscribers’ accounts was a glitch, meaning that the subscribers will still have to pay the supposed cleared debts once MTN rectifies the issue.

Also MTN in an official statement issued on Saturday in response to the development stated:“MTN Nigeria Communications Plc can confirm a system glitch impacting balance enquiries. As a result, some customers may receive error messages showing that their balances have been cleared. 

“This is not the case and all balances will reflect accurate figures once the problem is resolved. Our engineers are currently working to ensure this. Please accept our apologies. We regret the inconvenience.”

Subscribers’ reactions

Many subscribers of MTN who woke up to the discovery of the debt disappearance on Saturday expressed excitement even as they thanked MTN for “cancelling” their debts.

Some of the subscribers that took to the microblogging site, X (formerly Twitter) advised loan app companies in the country to follow the MTN example.

Appreciating MTN, a subscriber @convenant_film, said: “Though I own MTN  Nigeria some debt  I want to thank them for paying off all their customer’s debt because of the hardships in this country… Thank you MTN Group for paying back to society… We love you.”

Another subscriber @funny_hibee, posted:“Dear MTN, Thanks for clearing my Debt. I appreciate you from the depth of my heart.”

What you should know

All mobile network operators in Nigeria including Globacom, Airtel, and 9mobile, currently allow their customers to borrow airtime and pay later.

This model is enabled by the near guarantee that the customers will make repeat calls, thus ensuring that airtime borrowed will be subsequently repaid.