A FEDERAL High court sitting in Lagos struck out a tax evasion suit against South African owned Telecommunication Company, MTN following the withdrawal of Attorney General’s suit and visit of the Chairman of the group, Mcebisi Jonas to Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari.

AGF had filed a suit against MTN over alleged N242 billion and $1.3 billion import duties and tax evasion, an allegation MTN claimed were untrue.

On 10^th January, MTN revealed that the AGF had withdrawn the suit against the company while referring the case to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) ‘with a view to resolving contentious issues’.

Following the AGF’s withdrawal of petition, MTN also withdrew a N3 billion naira suit against the AGF for infringement of rights.

The sitting judge on the case, Aneke Chukwujekwu Joseph struck out the case on the basis that the prosecution and the MTN had withdrawn their cases.

The MTN Group Chairman said the Group is committing the sum of $1.6 billion to strengthen its network and systems in Nigeria.

Government of Nigeria announced on its social media handle that MTN boss, Jonas visited Buhari earlier this week to show appreciation owing to the fulfillment of most of the issues discussed during the President’s visit to South Africa.

“Because most of the issues we raised during your visit to South Africa have been addressed, and there is progress on the remaining ones,” Jonas was quoted to have said.

He added that owing to the president’s gesture, the telecommunication group is set to invest $1.6 billion ‘to strengthen its network and systems in Nigeria’.

Buhari in return made commitments to Jonas to providing an enabling environment for businesses to succeed in Nigeria.

Lukman ABOLADE

Investigative Reporter at International Centre for Investigative Reporting | Author Page

Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via labolade@icirnigeria.org, on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94