The Federal Government of Nigeria has filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange Binance, demanding a penalty of N79.51 billion and N231 million—equivalent to $81.5 billion—over alleged economic losses caused by its operations in the country.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1444/2024 is also seeking $2.001 billion in income taxes for 2022 and 2023.
The lawsuit accuses Binance and two of its executives, Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, of violating Nigerian laws by failing to register with the FIRS for tax compliance and allegedly contributing to financial losses within the country.
This latest lawsuit marks the third legal battle against Binance in Nigeria. Previously, both the FIRS and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had accused the platform of tax evasion, money laundering, and foreign exchange violations in cases before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Allegations Against Binance
The monetary claims in the lawsuit include:
A 10% penalty for non-payment of taxes for 2022 and 2023.
A 26.75% interest rate, based on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) prevailing lending rate, applied annually from January 1, 2023, and January 1, 2024.
Additional penalties for economic damages.
The FIRS also alleges that Binance concealed its business activities in Nigeria despite maintaining a significant economic presence. The government accuses the company of violating multiple regulations, including:
Companies Income Tax Act
FIRS (Establishment) Act 2007
CBN Regulatory Framework for Mobile Money Services
CIT Significant Economic Presence (SEP) Order, signed by former Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed in May 2020
The SEP Order mandates that foreign companies earning at least N25 million annually from digital services in Nigeria must pay taxes.
Government’s Case Against Binance
An affidavit filed by Jimada Yusuf, a member of the Special Investigation Team from the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), reveals that Binance has operated in Nigeria for over six years without proper registration.
During a 2024 meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Binance executives Anjarwalla and Gambaryan admitted that:
The platform had 386,256 active Nigerian users in 2023.
Binance recorded a trading volume of $21.6 billion in Nigeria.
The company’s net revenue from Nigeria was $35.4 million in 2023.
The affidavit further alleges that Binance:
Operated without necessary licenses and permits.
Failed to comply with the Money Laundering Act.
Provided unauthorized financial services and currency speculation.
Continued to trade the Nigerian Naira despite claiming to have delisted it.
Refused to provide six years’ worth of business records, despite a Federal High Court order.
Court Proceedings and Next Steps
The FIRS, represented by lead counsel Kanu Agabi, SAN, was present when the case was called before Justice Inyang Ekwo on February 11, 2025. However, Binance’s legal team was absent.
Agabi informed the court that attempts to serve Binance directly had been unsuccessful, prompting a motion for substituted service. Justice Ekwo granted the request and ordered that service be carried out within seven days, with the next hearing scheduled for March 3, 2025.
FIRS’ Demands in the Suit
The FIRS is asking the court to:
Declare Binance liable for corporate income tax due to its significant economic presence.
Mandate Binance and its executives to file tax returns for 2022 and 2023.
Compel Binance to pay $2.001 billion in unpaid taxes.
Enforce penalties, including a 10% interest rate per year and CBN’s 26.75% lending rate until full payment.
Award $79.51 billion and N231 million in damages for economic losses.
Binance’s Response and Government’s Reaction
This lawsuit comes just days after Tigran Gambaryan, one of Binance’s detained executives, accused Nigerian NSA Nuhu Ribadu and lawmakers of bribery and corruption in a statement on X (formerly Twitter).
The Nigerian government dismissed these allegations, labeling them misinformation and defamatory.
Notably, in October 2024, the government dropped money laundering charges against Gambaryan, an executive of Binance Holdings Limited.
The case is set to continue on March 3, 2025.
Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team
Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is the team responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing news and feature content on Julian Daily Gist. Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories. We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, and responsibly sourced information.
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team researches, writes, edits, and publishes news and feature content covering Nigerian current affairs, entertainment, sports, health, business, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide accurate, timely, and responsibly sourced information and update our reports when credible new information becomes available.
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing content across Julian Daily Gist.
Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, useful, and responsibly sourced information. Our team makes reasonable efforts to verify important information, identify sources, distinguish allegations from confirmed facts, and update reports when credible new information becomes available.
We also believe in transparency and accountability. Readers can contact our editorial team to report factual errors, request corrections, or provide additional information relevant to a published story.
Editorial focus: News, current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories.
Team BIo:
The Julian Daily Gist Editorial Team is responsible for researching, writing, editing, and publishing content across Julian Daily Gist.
Our coverage includes Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, and human-interest stories.
We aim to provide readers with timely, accurate, useful, and responsibly sourced information. Our team makes reasonable efforts to verify important information, identify sources, distinguish allegations from confirmed facts, and update reports when credible new information becomes available.
We also believe in transparency and accountability. Readers can contact our editorial team to report factual errors, request corrections, or provide additional information relevant to a published story.
Editorial focus: News, current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, health, business, and human-interest stories.
Editorial Policy:
At Julian Daily Gist, our goal is to provide readers with timely, useful, accurate, and responsibly presented news and information.
We cover Nigerian current affairs, politics, business, entertainment, sports, health, lifestyle, human-interest stories, and other topics of interest to our readers.
1. Accuracy and Verification
We make reasonable efforts to ensure that information published on Julian Daily Gist is accurate and presented in its proper context.
Before publishing a report, our editorial team makes reasonable efforts to:
- Check information against credible sources.
- Verify names, dates, locations, figures, and other important details.
- Attribute information to the appropriate source.
- Distinguish confirmed facts from allegations, claims, opinions, and speculation.
- Update stories when credible new information becomes available.
When information cannot be independently verified, we make this clear to readers rather than presenting it as established fact.
2. Sources
We use a range of sources, including:
- Official government statements.
- Police and security agencies.
- Courts and legal documents.
- Government agencies.
- Direct interviews and statements.
- Reputable news organizations.
- Publicly available records.
- Verified social media accounts and statements.
When an article relies substantially on information reported by another publication, we aim to clearly attribute the information to that source.
We do not intentionally present another publication's reporting as our own.
3. Originality
Julian Daily Gist aims to provide original editorial value.
When we report information that has already been published elsewhere, we seek to add value through original writing, context, verification, analysis, additional information, or other useful material.
We do not intentionally copy and republish articles from other websites without appropriate attribution and meaningful editorial contribution.
4. Allegations and Sensitive Claims
When reporting allegations involving individuals or organizations, we make reasonable efforts to clearly identify allegations as allegations.
We avoid presenting unproven accusations as established facts.
Where relevant, we seek or include responses from the person, organization, or representative concerned.
For criminal matters, we recognize that an allegation, arrest, charge, or accusation does not by itself establish guilt.
5. Headlines
Our headlines are intended to accurately reflect the content of our articles.
We aim to avoid deliberately misleading headlines, fabricated claims, or headlines that exaggerate facts simply to generate clicks.
6. Corrections and Updates
We take corrections seriously.
If we discover that an article contains a significant factual error, we may correct or update the article as appropriate.
Readers who identify an error are encouraged to contact us with specific information supporting the correction.
Where appropriate, significant corrections or updates may be noted within the article.
7. Editorial Independence
Editorial decisions are made independently of advertisers, sponsors, commercial partners, and other external interests.
Advertising or sponsorship does not automatically influence our editorial decisions or the opinions expressed by our writers.
8. Sponsored and Promotional Content
Where Julian Daily Gist publishes sponsored, paid, or promotional content, we aim to clearly identify it as such.
Sponsored content does not necessarily represent the independent editorial views of Julian Daily Gist.
9. Conflicts of Interest
Our editorial team should avoid situations where personal, financial, or other interests could improperly influence reporting.
Where a relevant conflict of interest exists, we aim to disclose it when appropriate.
10. Use of Images and Other Media
We aim to use images, videos, graphics, and other media responsibly and with appropriate permission, licensing, attribution, or other lawful basis where required.
We do not knowingly use copyrighted material in a manner that infringes the rights of its owner.
If you believe that material published on Julian Daily Gist infringes your copyright, please contact us so that we can review the matter.
11. Artificial Intelligence
We may use technology and artificial intelligence tools to assist with certain editorial tasks, such as research support, proofreading, formatting, transcription, or drafting assistance.
However, AI-generated information is not treated as automatically accurate. Content remains subject to human review, editing, fact-checking, and editorial judgment before publication where appropriate.
We do not intentionally publish fabricated information generated by AI.
12. Privacy and Personal Information
We take reasonable care when handling personal information and avoid publishing unnecessary private information about individuals.
Sensitive personal information is published only when there is a legitimate public-interest reason and where appropriate.
Our handling of visitor information is explained in our Privacy Policy.
13. Opinion and Commentary
Opinion articles and commentary represent the views expressed by the respective writer or contributor.
Where appropriate, opinion content will be identified as commentary, analysis, or opinion so that readers can distinguish it from straightforward news reporting.
14. User-Generated Content
Comments and other material submitted by readers may be moderated.
We reserve the right to remove content that is unlawful, defamatory, abusive, discriminatory, misleading, threatening, spam-related, or otherwise inappropriate.
User comments do not necessarily represent the views of Julian Daily Gist.
15. Our Commitment
We are committed to improving the quality, accuracy, transparency, and usefulness of Julian Daily Gist.
As our publication grows, we will continue reviewing our editorial practices and updating this policy when necessary.
16. Contact and Corrections
If you have a correction, clarification, complaint, copyright concern, or question about our editorial practices, please contact us through our Contact Us page.
