Officials from the Department of Trade and Investment have been summoned by the House of Representatives for allegedly embezzling N2.6trillion from MTN.
The chairperson of the Public Finance Committee, Oluwole Oke, summoned the officials on Tuesday during an investigation into tax evasion audit questions.
The question was raised by the Federal Auditor General’s Office, where it was alleged that the N2.6trillion grant documents were allegedly forged.
He added that the committee had invited MTN to withhold tax evasion, adding that the Office of the Auditor-General, in its report, had noted that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) was paying the telecommunications company.
According to the statement, in some cases, there were no certificates and proof of cash issued by the department of trade, showing all assets purchased by the company.
“We have issues in this country where funds are not adequate for government to carry out policies and programmes. Which is why we had to borrow even though there are massive revenue leakages,” he stated. “MTN has also made appearances where N2.6trillion was seen as the taxable value for assets of the company.”
He also explained that Nigerians had the right to know the implications of MTN taking a certificate of N2.6 trillion to FIRS for tax waivers on the economy.
“The parliament simply wants to know whether it should sustain the query raised by the auditor-general or absolve the company of the allegations of tax evasion,” he said.
He added that it would be wrong to accuse it of such if the records tally with the company’s submission.
