Somehow it seems the MTN Group just can’t catch a break in Nigeria. It’s like a one step forward, two steps back thing. First, it was the brouhaha with the Nigerian Communications Commission, then there’s that N16 billion copyright law suit that was filed by the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON). And now? Now, the Nigerian Senate is investigating the allegation that MTN illegally transferred $12 billion dollars out of Nigeria over a 10-year period.
Senator Dino Melaye made the allegation last Thursday at the Senate
and requested permission to investigate further. In his statement, he
said, “MTN Nigeria paid a sum of $284.9 million on the 6th of February,
2001, to purchase their licence of operations in this country. Between
2006 and 2016, through four Nigerian Banks and a serving minister of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, MTN moved over $12 billion out of
Nigeria. That is about half of our external reserves. If I get the nod
of the Senate I will want to bring a substantive motion on the next
legislative day with substantiated facts to buttress this position.”
He closed by saying, “All hands must be on deck to recover every loot
in the country. We are in a precarious situation and now is the time to
recover every stolen money in the country.” As expected, his request
was approved by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
This is the second time there’s been speculation about MTN Nigeria’s books. Sometime last year, Premium Times carried out an investigation
regarding this same tax evasion issue and it was revealed MTN evades
tax by using transfer pricing to move their profits offshore, and
creating artificial operating costs. If the Senate’s investigation
proves this allegation to be true, it’ll mean MTN has been evading tax
in Nigeria – its biggest market – for about 10 years.
Put on your seat belts, guys. We’re in for another ride.
Source:techcabal
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