Access Bank branches in Gombe state have been shut down by the government, following the bank’s inability to settle N118 million unpaid taxes.
Investors King gathered that the bank’s customers in the state who were caught unawares, expressed their displeasure over the development, as many could not access any of the bank’s services.
The Gombe State Internal Revenue Service (GIRS) had accused the bank of not paying the income tax of its employees. The unpaid taxes were said to have accumulated to the tune of one hundred and eighteen million over 10 years.
While speaking with newsmen, Executive Chairman of GIRS, Abubakar Inuwa Tata disclosed that the state had issued a 30-day notice issued to the management of Access Bank.
He added that the bank’s branches were subsequently sealed when the 30-day notice expired without any form of correspondence from them.
He also noted that the state’s laws have a provision for a bank or any tax-paying entity to object or comply with a demand notice within thirty days if they are comfortable with the amount they are asked to pay.
“Instead, the bank took the GIRS to the Tax Appeal Tribunal in Bauchi State and we followed the case to its legal conclusion and the tribunal dismissed the case. And by law after 30 days whatever served to you becomes binding, final and conclusive, which means the bank has no option than to pay the amount of N118m on the demand notice”, he said.
Access bank is one of the top commercial banks in Nigeria, with over 42 million customers in Africa. The bank also has subsidiaries in Mozambique, Zambia, Congo, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and in the United Kingdom.
The bank, alongside its counterparts, FBN and UBA led the list of banks in Nigeria with highest electronic business income in the 9-month period of 2021.
Access bank generated a sum of N46.25 billion from e-business in the 9-month period ended September 2021, about 60.6% higher than N28.8 billion recorded in the comparable period of 2020.
Similarly, the bank grew its total assets by 19.6% to N10.37 trillion from N8.67 trillion recorded at the beginning of the year. The bank also recently completed the acquisition of a 78.15 percent shareholding in African Banking Corporation of Botswana Limited (BancABC Botswana).
