FG seeks Court order for Binance to pay Nigeria $79 billion economic loss fine, $2 billion tax 

These monetary demands and alleged liabilities, exclusively seen by Naijaonpoint, include a 10% penalty for non-payment of income tax for 2022 and 2023, a 26.75% interest rate—being the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lending rate per annum—from January 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024, respectively, among other charges.

Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, along with two of its executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, is accused in this lawsuit of contravening Nigerian laws by failing to register with the FIRS for tax compliance and causing economic losses to the country during the period under review.

The lawsuit alleges that Binance deliberately shrouded its business activities in secrecy despite having a “significant economic presence” in Nigeria.

The violations cited include breaches of Nigeria’s Companies Income Tax (CIT) Act, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act 2007, the CBN Regulatory Framework for Mobile Money Services, and the CIT Significant Economic Presence (SEP) Order.

The SEP Order, referenced in the lawsuit, sets out conditions under which foreign and non-resident companies providing digital services, among others, become liable for taxation in Nigeria.

The order stipulates that a foreign company has a significant economic presence in Nigeria if it derives an annual gross turnover of at least N25 million or its equivalent in other currencies from digital activities, among other criteria.

The SEP Order was signed by former Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, and gazetted by the federal government in May 2020.

Naijaonpoint reports that this lawsuit marks the third pending litigation by federal government agencies against Binance’s cryptocurrency activities, which have been widely patronized by Nigerians.

Binance’s alleged significant economic presence in Nigeria   

Binance’s alleged infractions in Nigeria   

The affidavit accuses Binance and its executives of multiple infractions, including:

Additionally, the official stated that Binance executives allegedly admitted that the platform had unlawfully listed and traded the Nigerian Naira until it purportedly delisted the currency following an investigation by the Office of the National Security Adviser.

“The defendants refused or neglected to make the complete information available to date (as of the filing of the pending suit in September 2024) despite an order from the Federal High Court mandating them to disclose such information to the FIRS through the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),” Yusuf stated.

Yusuf informed the court that FIRS also has another pending case against Binance over tax evasion.

Yusuf stated, “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, “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.”  

The FIRS, through its lead counsel, Kanu Agabi (SAN), is seeking the following reliefs against Binance and its executives:

Naijaonpoint reports that this pending lawsuit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1444/2024, was announced before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja on February 11, 2025.

Substituted service is a legal procedure that allows court documents to be delivered through alternative means when personal service fails.

As these legal battles unfold, all eyes will be on the courts to determine the outcome of FG’s charges against Binance.

Meanwhile, several other countries, including the United States, have also imposed fines on Binance for regulatory infractions.