NIGERIA – The Nigerian Attorney General’s office went beyond its powers when it demanded MTN Group Ltd. pay about $2 billion in back taxes, Africa’s largest wireless operator said.
The mobile-phone company is a South African owned company and in the past two weeks it has experienced a major shaking in terms of its market share prices.This has resulted in the attorney general accusing MTN of illegally repatriating funds and failing to pay the back taxes, making combined claims of $10 billion. However, MTN denies the allegations has chosen to seek a court order to halt the process.
The Attorney General “ought not to have undertaken an unauthorized process which has caused undue, unwarranted and untold injury to” the company’s reputation, MTN said in legal documents seen by Bloomberg News Tuesday. The operator is seeking 2 billion naira ($5.5 million) in damages and a further 1 billion naira in legal costs.
The current MTN share price has decreased by more than a third since the crisis begun late last month. The on-going battle comes just over two years after the Johannesburg-based company settled a separate, $1 billion fine over improperly registered subscribers that was levied by the Nigerian Communications Commission.
As it stands, the stock price has dropped and was seen at 2.8 percent to 72 rand in Johannesburg by the end of Tuesday.
