A definite date has been set for a court hearing between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and telco giant, MTN over the illegal repatriation of $8.1 billion. The hearing between the concerned parties is fixed for 30th of October 2018; a lawyer representing MTN disclosed this to journalists.
Also, the allegation of unpaid $2 billion back taxes alleged by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami gets November 8th as the hearing day.
This comes on the heel of a statement made 3 days ago by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed that the two parties are getting closer to resolving the dispute.
How it all began
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in August, fined four banks – Stanbic IBTC, Diamond Bank, Standard Chartered and Citibank – a total of ₦5.86 billion for breaching Nigeria’s extant laws and forex rules when they facilitated illegal repatriation of funds to South Africa on behalf of MTN.
MTN then issued a statement denying any form of illegality had taken place, as it had been cleared by the Senate. The CBN has since gone on to deduct the fines from the accounts of the banks involved.
The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, then accused the company of owing $2 billion as back taxes, relating to the importation of equipment and payments to suppliers over the last ten years.
Consequently, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of MTN Nigeria, Ralph Mupita disclosed that the company is considering new means of trading its shares. Mupita said the multinational company is currently facing a combined $10 billion in claims from Nigerian authorities and may no longer seek to raise capital through an initial public offering on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).