MON, SEPT 10 2018-theG&BJournal-MTN has continued to question its treatment by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Attorney General of the Federation who respectively fined the telecoms giant and accused it of unpaid taxes.
‘’With situations like this, it is vital for both the government, regulators and the company to have absolute clarity on the nature of both the allegations being made and the processes that are being followed. In the absence of this clarity, our only option is to seek judicial intervention and to ask the courts to act as adjudicator. This has been done today,” MTN said in a statement made available to the media by its corporate relations executive, Tobe Okigbo.
MTN said it is seeking an injunction to protect its asset and shareholder rights adding that company continues to “categorically and unequivocally” deny all charges related to investigations by the CBN and AGF into the company’s CCIs and unpaid taxes respectively.
‘’The simple reality is that MTN Nigeria has never repatriated dividends on the CCIs referenced by the CBN and that MTN is fully compliant with Nigerian tax law,’’ MTN said, adding that the company said it would continue to engage with the relevant authorities on issues.
Last week, the CBN wielded the axe over the mobile giant’s ‘illegal’ transfer of over $8.134bn out of the country and imposed N5.87bn fines on four banks for what it described as “flagrant violation of extant laws and regulations of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, including the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1995 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Foreign Exchange Manual, 2006.”
