$8.1b MTN fine: Court adopts settlement terms as judgment

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday adopted the
settlement terms in a suit by MTN Nigeria Communications Limited
against the Federal Government.

MTN challenged the $8,134,312,397.63 demanded from it by the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over alleged forex remittance
infractions.

But the telecoms firm prayed the court to restrain the CBN and
the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) from imposing punitive
sanctions against it.

The CBN accused MTN Nigeria of improper dividend repatriations
and demanded that $8.1 billion be returned “to the coffers of the
CBN”.

On Thursday, MTN’s lawyer Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), who led
other Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) Mr Damian Dodo, Fabian
Ajokwu and Adeniyi Adegbonmire, told Justice Saliu Saidu that
parties have resolved the dispute amicably.

He said terms of settlement were filed last December 28.

CBN’s counsel Mr Henry Ejiofor confirmed that parties have
settled out of court.

He urged the court to enter the terms of settlement as
judgment.

The AGF, represented Olanike Idenu, did not oppose the
settlement proposal.

He asked that his client’s name be struck out from the suit.

Justice Saidu thanked parties for not wasting precious judicial
time by going through the rigour of a trial.

He adopted the terms of settlement terms as the judgment of
court and struck out the AGF’s name from the suit.

The Federal Government accused MTN of unpaid taxes on foreign
payments and imports, asking it to pay approximately $2billion in
relation to the taxes.

According to the CBN, MTN and four banks – Standard Chartered
Bank, Citi Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Diamond Bank – deliberately
flouted the “laws and regulations…including the Foreign Exchange
(Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1995 and the Foreign
Exchange Manual, 2006.”

The banks allegedly colluded with MTN, using irregular
Certificates of Capital Importation (CCI), to illegally remit
foreign exchange abroad.

The four banks were slammed a combined N5.87 billion fine.

MTN had denied the allegations and subsequently filed the
suit.

It sought a declaration that it was “not liable to refund
$8,134,312,397.63 to the coffers of the first defendant (CBN)
premised on the decisions reached in the first defendant’s letter
of 28/8/2018.”

It is prayed the court to declare that “the first defendant’s
decision in its letter of August 28, 2018 with Ref No
GBD/GOV/COM/DGF/118/121 addressed to the plaintiff and titled:
‘Investigation into the remittance of foreign exchange on the basis
of the illegal capital importation certificates issued to MTN
Nigeria Communications Limited’ was reached in breach of the
plaintiff’s right to fair hearing.”

The plaintiff urged Justice Saidu to hold that CBN “lacks the
power to determine the civil obligations or penal liabilities of
the plaintiff.”

It also prayed the court to declare that CBN acted ultra vires
(outside) its statutory powers when it wrote the August 18 letter
to it demanding a refund of $8.1billion.

MTN asked the court to hold that the $8.1billion demand was
“illegal, oppressive, abusive, unauthorised and
unconstitutional.”

It also urged the court to void the September 3, 2018 letter
written to it by the AGF demanding $8.1billion as “penalties for
the offence of ‘infraction of forex remittances’.”

MTN prayed for an order “restraining the first and second
defendants from giving effect to the decisions, demands and
directives in their letters of August 28, 2018 and September 3,
2018, respectively.”

But, the CBN, in its statement of defence and counter-claim, is
urged the court to dismiss MTN’s suit for lacking in merit.

It insisted that the plaintiff must refund the $8.1billion to
the Federal Government.