Pre-shipment Inspection Agent (PIA), Trobell International Nigeria Limited, has faulted a report published in THISDAY Newspapers on Sunday, May 21 in respect of a House of Representatives public investigation on crude oil pre-shipment contract. In a protest letter to THISDAY, the company, represented by a legal firm, Albert & Co, insisted that it (Trobell) never evaded tax remittance as stated in the publication.
The letter, signed by Mr. Charles Donglong, took exception to a paragraph in the publication, which stated that “Documents from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation detailing payments to PIAs between January 2011 and April 2017, showed that Trobell International Ltd was paid N2.53 billion while JBIS Integrated Resources Ltd was paid N15.2 billion. Both companies were found to have evaded tax remittance, and did not have PENCOM certificates.â€
According to the solicitors, “Our client (Trobell) has its Tax Clearance Certificate genuinely obtained from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and their figures are duly captured on the FIRS portal. It should be noted as mentioned during the hearing by the Managing Director of Trobell, that all payments due to the company are paid by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) authorised by the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) after deducting all taxes due from the payments.
“It is very important to state that no mention of PENCOM Certificate was made concerning our client during the hearing as reported by your publicationâ€, Donglong added.
