MTN VS AGF Case Withdrawal: What It Means For Ease of Doing Business In Nigeria

SAMUEL IPINYOMI

Barely two years ago, the relationship existing between businesses and regulators was very rare. At a point, it seemed like the regulators were bent on going to war with businesses especially those with foreign affiliations.

In a surprising turn of events, the 2018 case of the Attorney General of the Federation accusing Nigeria’s most successful telco of failing to remit N242,244,452,215.97 and USD$1,283,610,357.86 in taxes to the coffers of the Nigerian authorities was withdrawn on Wednesday, January 8, 2020.

It was a battle that lasted over 13 months, with accusations, counter-accusations and adjournments. As a matter of fact,  MTN sued the federal government to the tune of N3 billion in damages and legal cost.

Eventually, the AGF withdrew the case/accusation.

Although the reason cited for this withdrawal was to give room for the ‘appropriate authorities like the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) to launch a proper investigation, it is not far fetched that the AGF probably realised at one point that MTN was not guilty and had to peacefully resolve the issue.

However, that is beside the point.

The key question here is what this means for the relationship between businesses and regulatory bodies?

For one, we need to commend the AGF and Ministry of Justice for basically doing their job, if businesses are not doing what is required of them, this is proof that they will be thoroughly investigated.

We also need to be wary of drastic actions that are unmatched with concrete facts and evidence.

This can negatively affect Nigeria’s global appeal as a country that provides an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

It is very possible that the AGF did conduct proper investigations before going all out against MTN Nigeria; it is also possible that the federal government may have played a significant role in making sure that Nigeria’s global business appeal does not suffer any more setbacks.

MTN Nigeria may or may not be guilty but we will let the appropriate bodies (FIRS and NCS) reveal this in due time, with the results of their investigation.

Consequently, the conscious efforts of the federal government and regulators to avoid scaring off foreign investment is quite visible.