The House of Representatives has cautioned the potential buyers of Multichoice Nigeria, Multichoice Africa or any other Subsidiaries of the Multichoice Group operating in Nigeria to be aware of the alleged outstanding indebtedness which may have been covered in their papers.
The caution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent National Importance on the “Urgent Need To Investigate The Alleged Unremitted N1.8 Trillion And $342 Million Tax Revenue Owed The Federation By Multichoice Group”, moved by Hon Abdullahi Saidu, at plenary.
He said that “Aware that Multichoice, a prominent multinational corporation operating in Nigeria, has been accused of non-remittance of tax revenues due to the Federation, as evidenced by the suppression of information discovered from the submissions in their home country;
“Also Aware of the fact that Nigerian Economy is currently facing significant challenges, with dwindling revenue posing a threat to the overall fiscal stability and development of the Country;
“Cognisant that the Federal Inland Revenue Service had engaged a consultant in 2021 under a Whistle blowing contract to carry out an audit of the tax obligations of Multichoice Nigeria and MultiChoice Africa with a view to ascertaining the Company’s tax indebtedness to the Country. Their findings led to a back audit and investigation carried out by the FIRS from 2011 to 2020;
” Also Cognisant of the previous attempts by FIRS to recover the unpaid taxes through legal means; including court proceedings and the subsequent resolution to settle out of the court by both parties has not yielded the desired result;
He also observed that the systems audit and investigation revealed enormous indebtedness to the tune of over N1.8 trillion in back total taxes for MultiChoice Nigeria, and $342 million in Value-added tax, for MultiChoice Africa that had never paid any taxes since they started business operations in Nigeria.
” Both amounts were levied upon the Multichoice Group by the FIRS. Concerned that there are ongoing arrangements to sell Multichoice Nigeria and other Multichoice Group Subsidiaries in Nigeria to a foreign Interest, while this tax indebtedness remain outstanding;
“Worried that if urgent actions are not taken to recover these tax revenues from the Multichoice Group, Nigeria may lose such huge revenue that can inject life into the economy; Acknowledge the responsibility of the House to uphold the principles of transparency, accountability and the rule of law in matters pertaining to public finance and taxation.
“Assert the urgency and necessity of conducting a thorough investigation into the non-remittance of tax revenues by Multichoice to the Federation, with a view to ascertaining the veracity of the allegations and taking appropriate action to safeguard the interests of the Nigerian people” Hon Saidu said.
The House in adopting the motion, mandated the Committee on Finance to initiate an urgent and comprehensive investigation into the non-remittance of tax revenues by Multichoice to the Federation with a particular focus on the suppression of information discovered from their submissions in their home country and report back to the House within four (4) weeks for further legislative action.
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