MTN Nigeria on Thursday, 30 January, 2020, appeared before the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos to formally discontinue its legal action against the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF). This followed the decision of the AGF to refer the matter to the relevant regulatory authorities.
MTN Nigeria applied to have the legal action struck out, which request was duly granted by the court.
The AGF of Nigeria, Abubakar Malami, who was wrongly demanding the return of N242,244,452,215.97 and USD$1,283,610,357.86 alleged revenue indebtedness for its import duties, withholding tax and value-added tax-related issues, earlier this month withdrew his case against the telecommunications operator, saying that he ‘decided to refer the matter to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), to resolve the issues, after careful review and due consultation with relevant statutory agencies.’
As a result of this development, MTN which was challenging the legality of the AGF’s assessment of its import duties, withholding tax and accusations that followed, consequently followed due court process to withdraw it legal action.
The company will now need to engage with the FIRS and Nigeria customs on the alleged issues.
“MTN Nigeria remains committed to meeting its fiscal responsibilities and contributing to the social and economic development of Nigeria,” the company said in a statement signed by Uto Ukpanah, company secretary, MTN Nigeria.
