The federal government has sued cryptocurrency trading company Binance Holdings Limited at the Federal High Court in Abuja, demanding $79bn and N231m as compensation for economic losses allegedly caused by its operations in Nigeria.
FG, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1444/2024, filed through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), demanded that the company pay an additional $2bn for income tax between 2022 and 2023.
According to the FIRS, the platform failed to register for tax compliance, which is contrary to Nigeria’s Companies Income Tax (CIT) Act, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2007, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulatory framework for mobile money services, and the CIT Significant Economy Presence (SEP) Order.
In an affidavit deposed to by Jimada Mohammed Yusuf, a member of the Special Investigation Team from the Office of the National Security Adviser, the federal government discovered that Binance had been operating in Nigeria for over six years without registration.
According to Yusuf, this was allegedly confirmed by two Binance executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, during a meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2024.
He claimed that in a letter dated February 20, 2024, Binance admitted to having 386,256 active users from Nigeria on its platform, with a trading volume of $21.6 billion and a net revenue of $35.4 million for the calendar year 2023.
“From the infractions committed in Nigeria by the defendants for engaging in foreign exchange or any other trading instrument, Binance, and its executives are liable to the Federal Government for the sum of $79,514,055,594.40 (seventy-nine billion, five hundred and fourteen million, fifty-five thousand, five hundred and ninety-four dollars, forty cents) and N231 million for economic losses caused by their operations in Nigeria,” Yusuf stated.
Among other reliefs, the FIRS, through its lead counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN), declared that Binance and its executives are liable to pay N2bn annual corporate income tax to Nigeria for 2022 and 2023 for having a significant economic presence in the country.
The agency is also seeing “an order compelling Binance to pay $79,514,055,594.40 and N231 million to the Federal Government for economic losses incurred due to its operations in Nigeria.”
Justice Inyang Ekwo fixed March 3 for the hearing of the suit.
