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The Nigerian government has taken legal action by filing a suit at the High Court in Abuja, demanding that the cryptocurrency exchange company Binance Holdings Limited pay $79.51 billion and ₦231 million for alleged economic damages incurred due to its activities in Nigeria.
The plaintiff, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), submitted a FHC/ABJ/CS/1444/2024 charge against Binance, seeking an additional $2.001 billion in income taxes for the years 2022 and 2023.
In the court filing, Binance, along with two of its executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, are accused of violating Nigerian laws by not registering with the FIRS for tax purposes and allegedly inflicting economic harm on the nation during the specified period. This legal action marks the third lawsuit facing Binance in the trial court.
In a related matter, the FIRS and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have accused the company of tax evasion, money laundering, and foreign exchange infractions before Justice Emeka Nwite of the FHC in Abuja.
The financial claims in the lawsuit include a ten per cent penalty for unpaid taxes for the years 2022 and 2023, along with a yearly interest rate of 26.75% (the current lending rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria) starting from January 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024, respectively, in addition to other sanctions.
The FIRS claims Binance obscured its business operations in Nigeria despite maintaining a considerable economic footprint.
Additionally, the government accuses Binance of violating Nigeria’s Companies Income Tax Act, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2007, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Regulatory Framework for Mobile Money Services, and the CIT Significant Economic Presence (SEP) Order.
The SEP Order, which was enacted by former Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed and published in May 2020, establishes that a significant economic presence consists of foreign companies earning at least ₦25 million annually from digital services in Nigeria.
According to an affidavit filed by Jimada Yusuf, a member of the Special Investigation Team from the National Security Adviser’s Office, Binance has been conducting operations in Nigeria for over six years without proper registration.
Yusuf indicated that during a meeting in 2024 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Binance’s executives (Anjarwalla and Gambaryan) acknowledged having 386,256 active users in Nigeria, with a trading activity of $21.6 billion and a net income of $35.4 million for the year 2023.
The affidavit further accuses Binance of functioning without the necessary licenses and permits, failing to comply with the Money Laundering Act, providing unapproved financial services, and engaging in currency speculation.
