MTN Group Limited is close to securing a deal with the Central Bank of Nigeria over an order to repay $8.1bn it is alleged to have illegally taken out of the country, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Bloomberg reported that a settlement might be sealed by Monday and could come as early as Friday, said the person, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorised to comment publicly.


The CBN is set to meet four lenders of MTN Nigeria to discuss a dispute over an $8.1bn fund transfer, a banking source told Reuters.

It was gathered that the CBN emailed invitations on Thursday to the Nigeria Heads of Standard Chartered, Citibank, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Diamond Bank, to attend a meeting on Friday, the source added.

The central bank and the banks declined to comment on a potential meeting on Friday while a spokeswoman for MTN said she did not know of a meeting.

The source said the meeting would start at 4 pm on Friday and focus on MTN’s fund transfer.

The CBN in late August had alleged that MTN and four of its banks – Standard Chartered Plc, Citigroup Inc., Stanbic IBTC Plc and Diamond Bank Plc – illegally repatriated $8.1bn from Nigeria while the office of the Attorney General of the Federation claimed the company failed to remit $2bn back taxes.

The CBN also imposed a total fine of N5.87bn on the four banks for allegedly remitting dividends with irregular Certificates of Capital Importation on behalf of MTN Nigeria between 2007 and 2015.

Meanwhile, MTN Nigeria Communication Limited has sued the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), before the Federal High Court in Lagos, demanding N3bn as general and exemplary damages.

The telecoms firm is challenging the August 20, 2018 letter written to it by the AGF, demanding N242bn and $1.3bn as import duties, withholding and value added taxes.


The firm, in the suit filed through its lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), described the AGF’s N242bn and $1.3bn demand from it as “malicious, unreasonable and one made on an incorrect legal basis.”

MTN contended that in writing the demand letter to it, the AGF acted beyond his powers and violated the provisions of Section 36 of the constitution on fair hearing with “the purported revenue assets investigation” he carried out on the firm’s activities covering 2007 to 2017.

MTN, through Olanipekun, is urging the court to declare that the AGF acted illegally by “usurping the powers of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, to audit and demand remittance of withholding tax and value-added tax.”

The firm also wants the court to declare that with the “self-assessment exercise,” the AGF usurped the powers of the Nigerian Customs Service to demand payment of import duties on the importation of goods.

It wants the court to declare that “the purported self-assessment” conducted by the AGF was “unknown to the law, null and void and of no effect whatsoever”.

But the AGF has filed a preliminary objection, urging the court to dismiss MTN’s suit.

The AGF, through his lawyer, Mr T.A. Gazali, argued that MTN’s suit was incompetent, having not been filed within three months of the complaint.

Gazali argued that MTN’s suit breached the provisions of Section 2 of the Public Officers Protection Act, “which provides that any action commenced against a public officer must be made within three months from the commencement of a cause of action.”

https://www.akelicious.net/2018/11/cbn-mtn-near-deal-over-81bn-fund.html

There Goes another billion on the line.... SMH!!!

MTN?

Can Dangote struggle with South African government this way?

Now MTN's lawyer(olanipekun) is not even arguing on the illegal capital flight but on why the AGF had to come in rather than FIRS.

Meanwhile Nigerians are being killed on xenophobic grounds in SA while some BMC below has attached Atiku to the narrative rather than castigating olanipekun for defending such as South Africans would do.

It begins to seem we are too different for unity in the country.

Everyday! Billions of dollars...yet, the country is in shambles! Ion get

good work.... all these foreign organizations should not crash our economy

They have started making plans to repatriate a sum they are still challenging in court?

Ayam noh understanding

During PDP time, this dirty deal of mtn would have gone without FG raising it. Let thunder fire whoever will pour abusive words.

This wole olanipekun guy is a bonafide legal business man.

They killed MTEL so that they will use MTN to clear the funds .. Hummmm

As dem want pay so make dem pay all oh dem don too sick us. And make them employ that useless snitch Baba Ali.

Who do I blame now?

But some brain dead IPoB athikulooted in defence of US ambassador foolish assertion that upholding the law will chase away US investors, what will they say for themselves now? Atikulooted their brains indeed.

supereagle:
During PDP time, this dirty deal of mtn would have gone without FG raising it. Let thunder fire whoever will pour abusive words.

Gbam, Atiku will make looting great again

[s]

Sharon6:
Billions, trillions in the news everyday yet the country is in shambles..






GIVE YOUR SKIN A TREAT, CHECK MY SIGNATURE!

[/s]

Yet you want people to treat their skin when their country is in shambles, make unah continue to lie to yourself

this will at least reduce dollar rate a bit

From all indication, MTN is faulty.
All these South African expatriates tends to belittle us. It's time to move them back to coast

one of the reasons of dollar scarcity

simplyhonest:
good work.... all these foreign organizations should not crash our economy

Which of your economies? Is foreign organization your problem. Corrupt Nigerian official aided mtn to whisk out such amount illegally before it backfired.

martineverest:
this will at least reduce dollar rate a bit

For where? They will share the cash and cause more inflection

say Dem one dash us money this one way or another dey see billion like this

Talking about billions of dollars.....or trillions of naira


So how does it affects the petty trader on my street?

googlepikins:
This is the reason why foreign investors are running out of Nigeria.

If MTN pay all these, there's no way they will allow their staff to remain the same in Nigeria

so what you are trying to say is that they should not pay in for the fact that they are the ones causing it.do you know how the citizens of their country is Killing us everyday all in the name of xenophobic?if you know you will not want to use anything dat come out From SA

$8.1 billion dollar to I.prove the economy of south Africa, chair naija don't suffer

check my siggy, get your electronics, SMART TVs and sound bars at affordable rate,payment on delivery, BUY4ME services available too with POD option.

emmie14:

For where? They will share the cash and cause more inflection

read the content and comprehend.its not government money.

Some banks aided and abetted in this illegal transfer.And how was such huge transfer made without CBN's knowledge?Does it still play its role as the apex bank?If the transfer was done through physical cash movement,where were the Nigerian Custom Service and interrelated agencies?