Binance Holdings Limited has prayed to the federal high court in Abuja to set aside the ex-parte order granted the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) for substituted service on the company, which allows legal documents to be served through alternative means.
On Monday, Chukwuka Ikwuazom, Binance’s lawyer, informed Nyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, that a motion had already been filed to that effect on April 4.
Ikwuazom said Binance Holdings’ contention was that the rules of the court for such service had not been complied with before the order was made.
He also sought an order setting aside the purported substituted service of the originating processes on Binance through electronic mail.
Ikwuazom submitted that Binance, which is resident in the Cayman Islands, is a company registered under the laws of the Cayman Islands.
He argued that by “the rules of the court,” an originating process or any other document issued by the court can only be served on a company by delivering it to “a director, secretary or other principal officer of the company” or by leaving it at the registered office of the company.
The lawyer added that the originating processes and documents of the court cannot be served on a company such as the applicant by substituted means.
‘FIRS FAILED TO FOLLOW DUE PROCESS’
Ikwuazom argued that FIRS failed to “follow the process” prescribed by the rules of the court for service of the originating processes on the company outside the jurisdiction of the court.
“The respondent also failed to obtain the required leave of this Honourable Court to serve the Originating Processes on the applicant outside the jurisdiction of this court,” he added.
He said substituted service of a process on a defendant outside jurisdiction can “only be made where the government or a court of the foreign country where the process was intended to be served certifies to this Honourable Court that the efforts made to serve the process have failed”.
On his part, Kanu Agabi, lead counsel to FIRS and senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), told the court that the cryptocurrency firm served the service with the motion on Monday — not April 4 — seeking to vacate the order for substituted service.
Agabi, however, indicated his interest in responding to the application.
Ekwo said the copy of the motion was not in the court file, and Ikwuazom, who apologised to the court, reiterated that the application was just filed on April 4
The judge, therefore, adjourned the matter until April 30 to allow FIRS to respond appropriately.
In a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1444/2024, FIRS had sued Binance Holdings, seeking $81 billion in compensation from the company over alleged economic losses linked to its operations in Nigeria.
In an affidavit deposed to by Jimada Yusuf, a member of the special investigation team in the office of the national security adviser (ONSA), Binance is said to have been operating in Nigeria for over six years without registration.
Yusuf said Binance executives; Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla, admitted to it during a 2024 meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The FIRS, represented by Agabi, also argued that Binance is liable to pay corporate income tax in Nigeria and must file income tax returns for 2022 and 2023. (The Cable)
