A Nigerian judge on Wednesday adjourned the lawsuit between South African telecommunications giant, MTN Groups and the government of Nigeria until October 29, reported Reuters. The case involved a $2 billion tax dispute.
Last year in September, Nigeria’s attorney general, Abubakar Malami, on behalf of the President Muhammadu Buhari government had demanded MTN to pay the $2 billion. In response, the telecommunications giant claimed that the requested tax money was without merit, and accused the attorney general of exceeding his powers in making the request.
Lawyers representing the Nigerian government requested the adjournment.
With over 58 million users, Nigeria is MTN’s biggest market and accounts for a third of the South African firm’s core profit. But the telecommunications giant has faced a number of challenges in the country regarding the tax demand and a fine over unregistered SIM cards.
MTN Nigeria listed in Lagos in May in a 2 trillion naira ($6.5 billion) flotation and became the second-largest stock on the bourse by market value. The listing followed MTN Group’s agreement with the Nigerian regulators to settle most of its long-running disputes. The South African company said it would sell more shares to the public and increase local ownership in MTN Nigeria once the tax row was resolved.
In December, MTN promised to make a $53 million payment to resolve a separate dispute in Nigeria after the Central Bank of Nigeria ordered the company and its lenders to bring back to the country $8.1 billion it was alleged to have repatriated using improperly issued paperwork between 2007 and 2008. The settlement ended a four-month row that had hammered MTN’s share price in Johannesburg.
In related news, MTN Nigeria on Tuesday launched 4G+ in Lagos, Abuja and Port-Harcourt, Rivers state capital. The company’s 4G+ service runs on 4G LTE Advanced Technology using a combination of the recently acquired 800 MHz spectrum and 2600 MHz.
