The Nigerian government has pressed fresh charges against global cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, demanding $81.5billion in damages and unpaid taxes.
According to the lawsuit, Binance’s activities in Nigeria caused significant economic harm to the country.
Binance was also accused of evading taxes on its local earnings.
According to court documents, the government was seeking $79.5 billion for alleged economic losses and $2 billion in unpaid taxes, covering 2022 and 2023.
Recall that the government blamed Binance for Nigeria’s currency woes and detained two of its executives in 2024 after cryptocurrency websites emerged as platforms of choice for trading the local Naira currency.
Binance, which was unregistered in Nigeria, has not yet reacted. However, it previously stated its intention to collaborate with Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on potential historic tax liabilities.
The FIRS stated that Binance has a “significant economic presence” in the country, making it liable for corporate income taxes, along with a 10 per cent annual penalty and a 26.75 per cent interest rate on unpaid taxes based on Nigeria’s lending rate.
It is seeking a court declaration that Binance pays income taxes for 2022 and 2023. The revenue agency is also requesting a 26.75% interest rate on unpaid taxes, based on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s lending rate.
Binance was already facing four counts charge of tax evasion in Nigeria after a government crackdown on the industry last year.
The charges include non-payment of value-added tax, company income tax, failure to file tax returns, and complicity in helping customers evade taxes through its platform.
Binance, which is contesting the charges, announced in March last year that it was stopping all transactions and trading in Naira.
The company is also battling separate money laundering allegations brought by Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, charges it has persistently denied.
Also, a member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Philip Agbese, has filed a N1 billion defamation suit against Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan, who was initially detained in Nigeria.
Agbese accused Gambaryan of falsely implicating him and two other lawmakers in a $150 million bribery scandal, thereby causing significant damages to his reputation.
NATIONAL ECONOMY recalls that Gambaryan had taken to his X (formerly Twitter) handle to allege that Nigerian officials sought personal gains from the Binance dispute, specifically naming National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu.
He claimed Ribadu wanted payouts to fund political ambitions and even hired a US law firm to negotiate his release from detention, though the effort reportedly failed.
The Nigerian government dismissed the accusations as baseless, with Information Minister Mohammed Idris asserting that Gambaryan’s claims lacked credibility and were aimed at intimidating Nigerian officials who pursued justice.
