Reps To Probe MultiChoice Over N1.8trn, $342m Debt

The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate MultiChoice Nigeria’s failure to remit about N1.8 trillion and $342 million in tax revenue to the federal government.

The House also 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.

These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion moved by Hon. Saidu Abdullahi (APC, Niger) at plenary on Wednesday.

Moving the motion, Abdullahi said 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.

He said the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIR) 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.

The lawmaker stated that their findings led to a back audit and investigation carried out by the FIRS from 2011 to 2020.

Abdullahi said 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 said: “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.

“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; 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.”