Please don't get me wrong, I am firmly against corruption in all its shades and hues.

Many people are waiting with bated breath for the release of the Panama papers; we already have several names on that list and I dare say every political office holder with an offshore trust is praying that some huge event happens on the day the list is fully released - Nigeria winning the Olympic gold in football, for instance, would be a godsend for such persons. But I digress. The fact that someone has an offshore trust is not prima facia proof of corruption. I disagree with the premise that clean money doesn't need to be hidden. There are two good reasons to use the Trust device. Firstly, the largest problem in keeping wealth in the family across several generations is the behaviour of the beneficiaries (children). Beneficiary behaviour can become elitist and consumptive. The beneficiary may fail to replicate the hard work of the founder. What many trusts do is to ensure that beneficiary income is either a "U" shape with the bulk coming in childhood or at retirement or the trust disbursements are linked to earned income. Trusts are a great way to handle spendthrift children. The second reason is that the estate transfer process is Nigeria is very hard on the marital survivor and their children. First, the state takes 10% probate fees and some other under the table expenses during the property valuation and then the process is so long and convoluted that the family suffers terribly in the interim. I know many families that had to sell property, at a discount because the buyer required an indemnity and a discount on the sale price. Some of these sales have been simply to finance the funeral or pay off debtors.

My point is that the Trust device is not illegal. In fact, Nigeria has about 8 private Trust companies providing exactly this type of service. Most of the local banks have trustee departments and nominee directorships. Instead, what we should be questioning is the source of the funds or whether the settlor could legally set up an offshore trust under the laws of Nigeria. ( E.g under the laws governing political office holders) We must be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

This is not a defense of any particular individual. Simply a reminder to the journalists in Premium Times that the scoop is not whether a Nigerian was named in the Panama papers but whether the arrangement that they created was legal for their office or if the funds employed for those purposes could reasonably be held to have been stolen. The mere naming and shaming of individuals is not the el dorado we seek, What we need is detailed investigative journalism that properly provides that names and identities of people who have actually broken a law.

I realise that my views may be unpopular as we have a 1789 Paris setting in place at the moment where every destroyed reputation elicits a loud cheer but it is what it is.

The source of such funds should be probed ASAP, especially in cases involving politicians...

Why would people need shell companies ??

Tax evasion in itself is a fraud and it's a crime against the federation

Let alone the source of magnanimous funds they have been hiding through shell companies

If Buhari / FG /NCC can fine MTN about $5.2 billion

Not because they have been avoiding taxes

I think any corporation avoiding taxes should pay triple of the former / previous tax they were supposed to pay


Nigerians shouldn't have / own , or rent shell companies until the country is better and corruption free

[quote author=DaBullIT post=45284160]Why would people need shell companies ??

Tax evasion in itself is a fraud and it's a crime against the federation

Let alone the source of magnanimous funds they have been hiding through shell companies

If Buhari / FG /NCC can fine MTN about $5.2 billion


Not because they have been avoiding taxes

I think any corporation avoiding taxes should pay triple of the former / previous tax they were supposed to pay


Nigerians shouldn't have / own , or rent shell companies until the country is better and corruption free [/quote

Tax evasion is a criminal offence but tax avoidance is not. Avoidance is where I want to minimize my tax bill and evasion is where I don't want to pay anything. Most tax havens are not zero tax but the tax rate is low so they don't count as evasion. I think the only way to nail someone who transfers money out of Nigeria into a tax haven is to ask if the transfer itself is legal. On what basis was the transfer made and was it a legitimate reason?